Software and documents for heli flight

HeliCalc

HeliCalc is an Excel spreadsheet to do calculations on electric RC helicopters.
Download 230KB

HeliDrive

HeliDrive is an Excel spreadsheet to do calculations on electric RC helicopters with a motor drive tail (ex. Pixel).
Download 310KB

Penni copter plans

These are the plans and building instructions for the smallest and cheapest helicopter you can find. It's rubber motor driven and non RC. Great for the kids. Download

Videos of all kinds of helis and other flying objects - Page moved

Due to the more general nature of this page, it has been moved to the Home section. You can find the page here.

Use your IAF wings

Once Radd posts the wings you will see them in his post. Save the image by right clicking on it and select "Save Picture As..." in the menu. Save it on you hard drive.

You can do two thing with it :

1. use it as your avatar (the image below your nick name
2. use it in the footer

Use as an avatar

1. Go to your home by clicking on the "My Home" link at the top in the Ikarus BBS.
2. Click on the Edit next to “Personal information, email, password, etc.”
3. Go to the “Upload your picture ” option at the bottom of the page
4. Click the browser button and select the wings image you saved (see above).
5. Click on the Submit button

Your image will now be uploaded to the Ikarus server and will appear as your avatar. I fyou return to your personal inforamtion page, you'll see the URL below the field where you have uploaded your image.

Use in your footer

The easiest way use your wings in your footer is to temporarily set it up as your avatar and use the address Ikarus gives you.

1. Go to your personal information page
2. Use your wings image to set it up as your avatar
3. Press the submit button and return to the personal information page
4. You will now see the URL (address) of the image in the field below the one where you uploded your image. Copy that address
5. Got to the “Signature” field about halfway the page
6. Paste the address in that field
7. insert “[image]” before the address
8. insert “[/image]” after the address

Press the submit button and go to one of your posts in the BBS. Admire the result.

Upload an image and display in the post

If you want to display an image in a post, but you don't have a site to host it, you can upload it to the Ikarus BBS and use it there. The image must be smaller than 40 kilobyte though. If it's larger, downsize it, or use a higher compression. There are lots of applications around that do image manipulations. Try Paint Shop Pro. It's shareware and has all the features of the big ones.

1. Start a new post or reply to a message
2. Type all you need, except for the image
3. Check the “Preview” checkbox and submit
4. Add your image by clicking the Browse button and selecting your image
5. Post and open your post
6. Click on the Attachment link and copy the address of the image from the address bar of your browser
7. Use the back button of your browser to go back to your post
8. Edit your post by clicking on the “Edit” link
9. Go to the place where you want the image to appear in your message and press the “Image” link in the UBB code block
10. Paste the address of the image in the pop up window
11. Submit your changes and admire the result.

Brushed Motors

Well that concludes this article on brushed motors, which I hope has proved interesting and useful. If you require further advice please drop me a line via my web site www.micro-heli.co.uk

Introduction How they work 1. The axle. 2. The stack of laminations. 3. The commutator/collector. 4. The wire 5. Holes or putty - Balancing methods 6. Brushes Motors for the Eco 8 Maintenance

Introduction Whilst there are several key components in any helicopter, the one component that really makes a difference is the type of motor that powers the thing. The standard Eco 8 is just a basic kit and allows you to purchase any motor, speed controller and other components that suit your personal preference, however most people tend to buy the packaged deal when purchasing the Eco 8 helicopter, which includes the Ikarus “Sport” motor. This article looks at the various motor options available for the Eco 8, mainly concentrating on the brushed design.

How they work There are two types of motors that are often used in electric model helicopters, brushed and brushless. The two vary in design, function and price. As a typical brushless set up can cost £250 – £350, it is generally out of the reach of the newcomer to the hobby, who tends to be on a fairly tight budget. This article will therefore deal with the standard brush type. So what are the main parts to a quality brushed motor

1. The axle. The axle is normally made of hardened stainless steel with a thickness of 3.14 mm. (0,125 inch) with a flat spot at one side for the pinion set screw. Very rarely nowadays we see axles without flat spots.

2. The stack of laminations. The 3 pole stack is made up out of very thin "slices" of silicone steel, which are pressed together to a length between 21.5 ( minimum regulated size ) and 22.5mm. For protection against damage and rust and prevention of the sharp edges cutting the wire while winding, the stack is often coated. There are various inside designs used, the most used are the straight or tapered leg (the part the wire is wound around) The difference in these designs is small but can make a difference to the performance of the motor, the more silicone steel material, the more punch/torque.

3. The commutator/collector. This part is the most important part of the motor together with the brushes. Looking at the collector is easy to discover that it has 3 separated thin segments, which are made of pure copper. These segments are baked on a ceramic insulation material, which is pressed and/or glued on the axle.

4. The wire The wire is wound around the 3 poles in such a way that it will react in the magnetic field created by the magnets when power is applied to the commutator. If the wire can move it will create 2 things: an unbalance and a possible short circuit in the wires. To protect the wire from moving on the stack the armature will often be dipped in a special corrosion preventing epoxy coating and heat hardened treated for maximum strength. The number of turns around each pole, and the number of strands of wire used generally dictate how the motor will perform. The Ikarus Sport motor has 23 turns of a single wire (referred to as a 23 single or 23 x 1)

5. Holes or putty - Balancing methods Holes on top or /and epoxy putty on the side of the stack is the method used to balance the armature. This balance is necessary to increase the RPM and to increase the life of ball bearings and bushings.

6. Brushes The last part is the end-bell, which house the brushes and springs. The end-bell fits over the top of the shaft and has the fixings for the power cables from the speed controller. The current is fed to the motor via a set of carbon brushes, which are held against the commutator by wire springs. Brushes vary in type and hardness and have a profound part to play in the performance of the motor.

Motors for the Eco 8 OK so now you know the components of the motor, what can you expect to get from them. Well in short, most motors will provide enough power to lift the heli off the ground with the right combination of batteries and pinion. The Ikarus motors work well on 8 cells with the stock 10 tooth pinion, however fitting a slightly larger main pinion can increase the head speed and the performance of the Eco dramatically. The one thing you will notice is that the stock Ikarus motors are expensive, with the performance and power motors having an RRP of £60 and the Sport retailing at £40. Investigation has as yet not shown these motors to be anything special in terms of winds etc. But what alternatives are there, in a word – LOADS ! How cheap do you want to go, how about £4.50, that’s right less than a fiver will get a super motor that will give stacks of duration, and power. It’s called the Hurricane from Overlander Batteries. However you will need a 12 tooth main pinion if used with an 8 cell battery pack and 14 tooth pinion with 10 cells gives it a very spirited performance. The downside it that you can’t maintain the motor by cleaning or changing brushes etc. So it becomes a throw-away item when the performance drops off. If you want something a bit more powerful and something that has limited service ability, then the next step is a “buggy” or 540 class motor. Most model shops will have a selection of motors for model cars, ranging from £10 - £100. The cheaper versions tend to have fixed end-bells so the only thing that can be done to maintain the motor is replacement brushes and cleaning the commutator using a comm Stick. For around £12 you can get a Team Orion Havok motor which using 10 tooth pinion and 8 cells will give a lively performance. A word of warning though, don’t go below a 21 turn single wind motor as the current drawn will fry a typical 35 – 40 amp speed controller. If you are after longer flight times, with less performance then a 27 turn single wind (often referred to as a stock motor) is ideal. If you spend a little bit more, say £20 you should be able to get a rebuildable motor that can be stripped down and cleaned.

Maintenance Which ever motor you chose its efficiency will decrease as it is used as carbon deposits build up inside the motor and arching damages the copper on the commutator. If you have a rebuildable motor you should remove it from the Eco and dismantle it for cleaning after every 20 flights or so. Most motors are zero timed, however it’s worth making a mark in the end-bell and the can so they end up back in the same place after the strip-down. Un-clip the springs and remove the brushes, then undo the two screws securing the end-bell. Remove the end-bell and place to one side. Inside the can there will be a retaining disk, which needs to be rotated so the slots line up with the dimples on the inside of the can before it can be removed. Then remove the armature, checking to see if any small washers are left inside the can. Now squirt some WD40 (damp start often used on cars) inside the can to release the carbon deposits. This may need repeating several times, with the application of a paper towel to wipe up some of the fluid. The can should then be rinsed in warm water and left in a warm location (airing cupboard is ideal) to dry. Now do the same to the end-bell and the armature, making sure you don’t lose any washers or insulators. Once dry you can re-assemble the parts, however you should also polish up the commutator by placing 1000 grade wet and dry paper on the com and gently rotate it whilst applying pressure with your thumb and fore-finger. Always rotate in one direction and not back and forth. Now once assembled install a fresh set of brushes and re-align the timing marks, job done!

Breaking in and maitainnig a brushed motor

Breaking in Cleaning

Breaking in Get a 3V power source. 2 alkaline D cells or a 5V line from a converted PC power supply with a 55W halogen light bulb in series will do. I let it run at this voltage for 36 - 48 hours. This gives a perfect contact surface area between the brushes and the com. I also put a cooling fan and heatsink on the motor at this point.. I did it with my sport motor and that thing never got hotter than 120 F! Clean it thoroughlmy after it's run in

Cleaning I cleaned it out every 5 or 6 flights by flushing it with the motor cleaner until it ran "clear" from the bottom of the motor. Then I'd just put a small drop of oil on each bearing and be ready for the next 5 flights or so. Spray brake cleaning fluid from your auto parts store can be used for cleaning too. The cheapest brand will do. I also never cleaned it hot.. always let it cool to ambient temperature before hitting it with the motor cleaner. Learned this lesson the hard way after warping the com on my first Magnetic Mayhem Reverse. I also throw out the stock brushes and install hard compound (P compound) brushes. They hold up to the current demands of the ECO much better.

Learning about Batteries

General Battery information Terminology Out of balance battery Fixing an Out of Balance pack - The C/10 charge theory Charging at higher rates Zapping Cells- The Biggest Problem With Battery packs Only Charge batteries Once a day. Memory Effect Cell types Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMh) Lithium Ion (LiIon) Lithium Polymer (LiPoly)

General Battery information This is not necessarily specific to any one battery type. This page is to help explain the different types of batteries used for E-Flight as well as give some general information. This was information that was posted in a thread on the Ikarus BBS and some information was gathered and put here. Thanks to everyone to added to the discussion.

Terminology C = Capacity or charge current 1C = Charge the pack at 1x it's capacity (3000mAh at 3.0 amps, 2400mAh at 2.4amps) C/10 = Charge at 1/10th the capacity (3000mAh at 300mAh, 2400 mAh at 240mAhs) Lio = Lithium based battery cell. Lio-Polymers, Lio-Ion are examples Out of balance battery - pack is when some of the cells in the pack still had some charge left in them while others have no charge remaining. IR = Internal Resistance Trickle Charge = A trickle charge is less than C/10 and is meant for continuous charging for standby devices such as cordless phones Slow Charge = C/10 Peak charge = Charge at 1C and Slow or Trick after pack peaks. Fast Charge = Charging above 1C

Out of balance battery Pack is out of balance is when some of the cells in the pack still had some charge left in them while others have no charge remaining. So when you charged the pack three of the cells peaked before the others did. That would leave the other cells a little under charged. So when you ran the pack out the undercharged cells dumped before the fully charged ones causing the under charged cells to feel warm. Cells begin to really heat up when they reach their "dumped" point.

Fixing an Out of Balance pack - The C/10 charge theory Just do a C/10 (c = capacity i.e. 2400mAh pack is charge 1c at 1.2A) charge for 14-16 hours, the magic of "slow charge" is that it equalizes the cells. As the cells fill up some will get full before others, but at the C/10 rate there is no danger of over charging because the cells that are full can safely dissipate the "over charge" as heat, without damage, giving the other cells time to fill up. This is also why it's a good idea to occasionally C/10 charge all your packs, in normal use over a number of cycles they will start to become unbalanced and the C/10 charge will rebalance them. Setting a C/10 trickle rate after a pack peaks will also do this, the pack will peak when the first cell or two does, but the others may not be quite full yet, if left at the C/10 trickle for some time after peak the cells will rebalance. Some people say that they see a reduction in power if the trickle charge after the pack has peaked, stating they perform best hot off the charger. This is not as noticed with NiCds but it does seem to be true for NiMHs, but Suspicions are it is temperature related as NiMHs always seem to perform better when warm and the time spent trickle charging will let them cool.

Charging at higher rates This is to drive up the initial voltage of the pack. "Car jockeys" charge at high amp rates to get that extra edge at the start of a race. But the higher voltage only lasts for about 20-30 seconds and then the pack drops off to its normal 1.2 volts per cell. But in flying you don't need or want that higher short-term voltage. You want the pack to charge at a lower amp rate so it fully deep charges for long run out times.

Zapping Cells- NiCad cells build up crystalline formations, as they are manufactured and later as they are cycled. These crystals cause tiny bridges to form between the plates inside the cell. The more crystal formations the harder it becomes for the cell to absorb and release energy effectively. This is refereed to as IR or Internal Resistance. A "Zapper" pretty much explains it's self. It's basically a transformer and huge capacitors that store up a very large charge and then releases it through the cell in a couple microseconds. This tends to shatter the crystals breaking down the IR in the cell and making it more efficient. Commercial zappers are very expensive and can pass as much as 30,000kva through a cell. There are less expensive "maintenance" zappers that put up to 90volts at up to 1kva through a cell to help keep crystals from building up. There is still some debate on whether or not zapping actually does anything for NiMH though. There is also still discussion on whether or not "Zapping" cells will shorten the life. People have shown as much as a 14% improvement in NiCad cell performance with high current draw (above 40amps) applications. But again it may shorten the cell life and number of times the cells can be cycled.

The Biggest Problem With Battery packs With our batteries is that they eventually go out of balance and depending on your charger's peak sensitivity, some cells will be overcharged while the others catch up, or the slow cells will not get fully charged and will be over discharged or even reverse charged as the pack runs down.

Only Charge batteries Once a day. Batteries don't keep track of time, they don't know if it's today, tomorrow or yesterday. As long as you allow them to cool down before putting them back on charge, you can charge them as many times as you like. Of-course the more you use them the less time they'll last in terms of years, but not in terms of cycles.

Memory Effect Nicads in every application suffer "memory effect" to varying degrees, the newer sintered cells are affected less but NiMh do not suffer this phenomenon at all. The problem with NiMh is that for a given current the output voltage is less than NiCd, because of the voltage drop across the higher internal resistance of NiMh cells. That's why one or two extra cells are added to increase the voltage when using NiMh. Note that some NiMh cells are becoming available whose internal resistance is approaching that of NiCd cells.

Cell types

Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) NiCd cells can be charged at a pretty high rate. Many time NiCad packs are charged with a rating of up to 2.5 times their capacity. A 2400 mAh cell is thus charged at 6 Amps in 24 minutes. Chargers exist of up to 12A per hour (Robbe's latest). With non sorted packs you shouldn't go above 6A though. The differences between the cells will make the charger false peak and the pack will never be full. Get a good charger that can handle both NiCd and NiMh cells. Make sure you can charge at least 16 cell packs and set your budget decide on the maximum charge rate. You are bound to charge larger packs sooner or later and a high charge rate will get the time to charge the pack down. If you want to go above 16 cells, get a second 16 cell charger and split the pack up. Then charge the two packs simultaneously. Two 16 cell chargers are cheaper than one 32 cell charger. This is due to the fact that the power needed to charge big pack is pretty high. This power translates in special electronics and heat precautions. Another advantage of having two chargers is that when you fly packs smaller than 16 cells, and you have 3 packs, you can fly indefinitely. There are always two packs charging while you fly with one. A good charger doesn't take more than 20 minutes to charge a pack. With a 10 minute flight, you can simply rotate the packs after every flight.

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMh) This type of cell has a much larger capacity than NiCd cells. A NiMh cell of 3300 mAh capacity is the same size as a NiCd cell of 2400 mAh. The disadvantage of these cells is that they can't handle bigger currents. For our applications of up to 25 Amps they are very usable. Nevertheless they tend to drop their voltage a bit more than NiCd cells. The latest generation of High Voltage NiMh cells have this a lot less. Charging NiMh cells must be done a lot more careful than NiCd cells. Most manufacturers say that you shouldn't charge over 1C (1 time the capacity per hour), although many people report charging NiMh cells at 2C without a problem. Whether this over charging will shorten the life of the cells remains to be seen. To be safe it is recommended to stick with the 1C rule. A few examples: Panasonic 3300 mAh packs can be charged at up to 3.3 A Sanyo 3000 mAh packs can be charged at up to 3 A Sanyo TwiCell 1800 mAh AA cells can be charged at up to 1.8 A

Lithium Ion (LiIon) These cells have lower weight and higher energy storage capability than NiCd or NiMh, but have a relatively low current delivery capacity of 2-4C. In addition, they must be charged at less than 1C, resulting in charging times of at least an hour. The result is that for high current applications like the Eco8, a number of packs must be paralleled to achieve the necessary total current capacity. Each LiIon cell has a nominal voltage of 3.6 volts vs the 1.2 volts of NiCd and NiMh, so 1/3 the number of cells is needed for the same voltage. Paralleling six packs of three 18650 cells (10.2v at 1400mAh/pack) would create a battery bank capable of delivering 25Amps at a 3C rate and would weigh 27oz (792gm) and provide 8400mAh. Total weight is about the same as a NiCd or NiMh pack, but the capacity is 2-4 times as much, translating into longer flight times. The major disadvantage of Li-Ion is that they explode and catch fire when overcharged. Don't try to charge one on your NiCd/NiMh charger! A charger designed for Li-Ion cells will have the proper charge profile to prevent overcharging. Another factor is that Li-Ion batteries age over time, regardless of whether they are used or not. A typical Li-Ion battery will last for a year and will typically need to be replaced in two years. A number of places on the Internet sell surplus Li-Ion battery packs, typically from cell phones or laptop computers. Many of these cells may have already past the two-year point at which their internal resistance prevents them from providing much of their energy for flying models.

Lithium Polymer (LiPoly) If you're interested in longer flight times and a safer battery pack, check out the LiPoly cells that have recently become available. They are 3.6 volt cells and can deliver current at 4C rates. They are the lightest cells you can buy today, but are expensive. However, the additional flying time tends to offset the price, making them comparable to buying several packs of NiCd or NiMh cells. Paralleling four packs of three 2070mAh cells produces a battery bank that can deliver 33Amps, weighs 18.5oz (528gm), and provides 8200mAh. Creating a battery bank by paralleling two packs of three of the 3270mAh cells that could deliver 26Amps, weigh 13.5oz (384gm), and have a capacity of 6540mAh. Charging LiPoly cells is similar to charging LiIon - you need a charger that can handle their special charging characteristics. The nice thing about these cells is that they are not prone to explosion and fire when overcharged - they swell and do get warm or hot. They are still not candidates for charging on your NiCd/NiMh charger. Only use the correct type of charger!

Building a battery pack

Click on the thumbnails to view the larger image

	We start off with a 10 cell in line battery pack. They are point welded together, which is more than enough for our applications
	Cut the metal plates to length. Do this carefully not to damage the cells. Use your Dremel to roughen up the metal plates. If you don't do this the solder will not stick.
	Do the same for the positive pole. Note the over charge venting hole here. It is possible that your cells will have venting holes all around the positive pole. You don't need to worry about them as much then.
	Use some good electronic solder and at least a 60W soldering iron to put a layer of solder on the positive pole. Make sure not to block the venting hole. It's better to use an 80 watt or 100 watt iron as you risk less to heat up the cell.
	Do the same thing with the negative pole.
	Get yourself some high quality connectors. For the ECO you need to get a 3mm gold plated kind to coop with the high currents.
	Heat up one connector and let the solder flow inside. Don't fill it up completely as you still need room for the wire.
	Do the same thing with the other connector.
	Cut off 3mm off the insulation of some good quality silicone 2.5 square millimeter wire.
	Heat up the copper and let the solder flow in the copper wire. If the copper doesn't flow, the wire isn't hot enough.
	Match the right wire with the right connector. Heat up the connector. When the solder starts to flow, insert the wire. Heat up a little more to make sure the wire if firmly attached.
	Do the same with the other connector.
	Insert the connectors in their housing.
	Cut the wires to length making sure the black one reaches the negative pole and the red one the positive pole. Trim off 6mm of the insulation and add solder to the wire.
	Do the same thing for the other wire and dry test your wire length.
	Put the black wire on the negative pole and heat it up with your soldering iron until the solder melts. Make sure you get a good contact.
	Do the same with the positive wire making sure you dont block the venting hole.
	Slide the pack in some shrink sleeve. They come in all colors. I used a transparent one.
	Use an iron to schrink the ends of the sleeve around the end cells.
	Heat up the whole sleeve. Because the ends were done first, the cells will be pulled together and the pack will become pretty solid.
	The end result. Now slow charge the first time and go fly!

How to make a Lipoly battery pack

Here we describe the method to make a 3 cells in series (3S) Lipoly cells pack. This method can be used to build any size or type of Lipoly pack.

Before starting you have to check that all cells are in right condition, not deformed with no cuts to the external bag. Check that the tabs are not damaged and can be soldered with resin core solder (All Lipoly cells that www.RCmaterial.com sells can be soldered with a soldering iron) if not you will have to use Aluminium Solder Flux.

You have to be extremely careful and not short circuit them as this will damage them. If you do not feel secure doing it we recommend you to use Electric Tape to isolate all the tabs except the ones you are going to work on in each step.

We highly recommend the use of silicone-insulated wire for Lipoly packs.

These are the tools and materials that you are going to need: A Voltmeter. Double sided tape. Electric tape. Clothes pins. Silicone wire. Soldering iron, solder and wet sponge to clean it. Hot glue gun (not in the picture) And, of course the cells :-D

Not following the next 2 steps will result in a faulty pack, and could damage the cells and even destroy the pack on first use. First, check the voltage of each cell. If the difference in voltage is over 1V you can partially charge the low voltage ones or discharge the higher ones. Until you get them to match. If you have no voltmeter, charge each cell fully separately. To make all voltages the same.

If the cells are not at the same voltage but the difference is less than 1V you can balance them by connecting them in parallel temporarily with a couple of clothespins. Be very careful to use correct polarity (all + together, and all - together). About 6 hours connected this way will balance them perfectly. Some big cells may need more time than that. Check at the end that all cells are at the same voltage.

Add solder to both sides of all the cell tabs. Be careful not to short-circuit them while doing this with the soldering iron.

Bend the tabs of the first two cells like in this picture and add a little piece of double side tape to one of them. Note: There is one (-) tab to one (+) tab.

Stick two cells together with the double-sided tape like in the picture and then solder the first two tabs.

Bend the tabs like in the picture and add again a little piece of double sided tape. Note: It is one (-) tab to one (+) tab again.

Be careful when you stick the next cell to the side with the double-sided tape, the tabs are very close and there is risk of short circuit if not done carefully. Solder the next two tabs and bend them over like you can see in the picture.

Use hot glue to insulate the tabs and keep them in place. This acts as a strain reliever to keep the tabs from ripping off.

Solder the silicone wires to the two remaining tabs checking the polarity. Again, use some hot glue to keep the tabs and wires in place.

The pack is ready for the heat shrink tubing. Always cover the pack with heat shrink or similar material as the outside bag of the cells can be easily damaged in use.

This way you can make any size or pack type, as most of the Lipoly cells are very similar in shape.

Connecting Packs in Series

When you have lots of battery packs laying around you want to use for an application that requires a lot more power, but your packs don't have a high enough cell count, connecting them in series can be a solution.

Of course you can merge the cells together in a permanent fashion, but when you have packs of matched cells you might be reluctant to do so.

You can charge packs in series too. Just connect the open leads to the charger. Make sure your charger can handle the total cell count.

Redundant, Scalable and Cheap BEC

The power to the RX is one of the most important things in a reception system. BEC (Battery Elimenator Circuit) eliminates the use of a heavy RX battery and uses power from the main battery to run the RX. It needn't be said that this system needs to be very reliable.

An Ikarus BBS guru, Suzanne, has posted a BEC system that is very cheap, redundant and yet scalable. The proposed circuit provides 1A max per voltage regulator (7806CT). If more than 3A are needed, just add another block.

Here's the post from Suzanne:

Parts list for a n Amp home-built BEC: (n = 1 to 5 or even more

n Voltage regulators 7806CT, (50 cents each)
n 1A Schottky Diodes, (50 cents each)
2n capacitors 10 uF 25V, (20 cents each)
1 piece of aluminium profile

If you use a different type of regulator, make sure that it has either input or ground connected to case, otherwise you're in trouble.

Mount all regulators on the aluminium profile, solder one capacitor between each input pin and ground and another one between each output pin and ground. Then solder the + end of a Schottky diode to each 7806 output terminal and solder all the - ends together to form the 5V output.

Advantages:

- good cooling
without going into any detail or doing the math, three regulators on a common heatsink can provide much higher current than a single regulator on the same heatsink. This has to do with thermal resistance from chip to case and with limited thermal conductivity of the heatsink.

- extremely cheap.
5 pc. of the 7806 cost less than $3, a fraction of the cost of a monolithic 5A regulator

- built-in redundancy
Even if one regulator fails or goes into thermal shutdown, you still have n-1 to supply power to your receiver and servos. The schottky diodes make sure that a failed regulator cannot pull the +5V output to ground.

- scaleable
Just use as many regulators as you need - 2 for 2Amps max, 3 for 3Amps max An Eco 8 with all digital servos will pull approx. 2.5A peak.

If you want to experiment, just add a 220 Ohms resistor and a green LED between each regulator output pin and ground to monitor the regulator outputs independently. Then, put a load on the BEC until it gets hot. You will find that after a while the first regulator will go into thermal shutdown (usually the one in the middle), but the others will still supply current to the load. After a few more seconds, if you don't remove the load, the others will shut down, too. This is a safe way to test the limits. If you move the sticks for a while, and one of the LEDs goes off after some time, you need a bigger heat sink. Don't try this with a regular BEC without redundancy!!!

The output voltage is actually 5.6 Volts, which makes the servos go faster and produce more torque. If you want 5.3 Volts, use normal diodes instead of the Schottky diodes.

The Schottky diodes actually serve two purposes: redundancy and current distribution. Do not try to simply parallel the regulators!

Here's a pic to help you visualize and build it:

a pic of a BEC created by the designer

image provided by alanwsg

image provided by alanwsg

image provided by alanwsg

image provided by alanwsg

If you create a PCB layout, please send it to me, then I will put it on this page.

The Ikarus ECO8 manual

This is a copy of the latest manual of the ECO8. Click on the thumbmails to get the large version to print.

The full manual can be downloaded here in PDF format, but the file is 11MB!

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Fitting the Ikarus Aluminium Auto Bearing Hub

	The alu auto hub is a tiny little bit too big to fit in the main gear rim. If you force it in, you will warp the main gear and it won't run true any more. Here you can see it sitting on top of the main gear rim.
	Put the hub on the main shaft and chuck it in a drill or drill press. If it spins freely when you turn the drill on, just turn the auto hub over. Use a bit of sanding paper or a file to sand a bit of the hub by holding it against the side. The anodysing will come off, but there's nothing you can do about that. You can fit it on the main gear without taking it off. Do it bit by bit untill the main gear fits.
	Here you see the result. The hub fits snugly inside the rim of the main gear.
	Always use blue Threadlock on any screw that is making metal to metal contact.
	Fasten the screws very slightly and then tighten them diagonally. Just follow the numbers on the picture. Don't overtighten or you will warp the main gear.
	Here's a view of the hub fitted in the main gear like it should be.

Building your own Vacuum pump

Introduction Getting the material Building instructions Building the Car part based regulation Syringe based regulation Installing your fridge compressor The final result Tips for using your vacuum press

Introduction What the hell a step-by-step instruction to build a vacuum pump is doing on a site dedicated to the electric helicopter?... I must admit that it may sound strange but I will list you some application that may bother the heli pilot you are. For example, you may use it when building your own self-made canopy, a new composite undercarriage (ask Bert) or a set of custom blade. In fact everytime you will need to press something for quite a long time. This is often the case when you work on something using composite (such as carbon fiber, glass fiber tissue, Kevlar,...), you always need to press the different layer on a shape and keep them in place in order to let the epoxy polymerise. People often use heavy loads, sand bags, their collections of magazines or anything in the neighboourhood looking heavy but they never obtain a regular and optimal pressure on all parts of the work. By using vacuum, you can apply the same high pressure on all parts. How can this be achieved?... Answer: by using athmospheric pressure! All you need to do is put your items inside a polyethylene plastic bag and use a vacuum pump to lower the pression inside the bag. A depressure of -100 mbar gives a load of 100 kg per square meter, if you apply -500 mbar, you will end up pressing 1/2 ton per square meter. Our problem now is to get a vacuum pump and a regulation to do it. You can find some on the market but at a retail price that will make you think twice before buying it. Other solution is to build your own. The solution I will describe here has been validated and I will explain you how to build it for almost nothing. Warning Disclaimer: I decline responsability for any injuries or damage you may encounter while following these guidelines. Be aware you will be doing this at your own risks. You will be dealing with current, so be careful

Getting the material In order to build your own vaccum pump you will need the following items: One fridge compressor unit Fig.1 Fridge compressor unit Go to your local fridge resselers, they often offer to take the previous back when customer buy a new one. And they dont know what to do with them. Ask them if you cannot take one off. You will need a good cuting plier to cut in and out tubes. Please avoid using a metal saw to cut them because the metal dust can enter the tubes and give trouble later. Note Take care to let at least 10 cm of in and out tubing. Pay attention while handling the compressor they are often filled with oil. You must keep it inside. press the last centimeter of the tube to seal it for transport One admission advance regulation valve OR one glass syringe This part can be found in almost all old engine (with no electronic advance regulation). This looks like a metallic can like a flying saucer with a tube on top.(crazy definition but I do not engineered these parts anyway) How does it work? It contains a rubber membrane that can move depending on the depression applied at the inlet tube. The more depression there is, the more the membrane moves. An iron wire is linked to the center of the membrane and moves with it. Fig.2 Vacuum valve front view Fig.3 Vacuum valve side view If you cannot find that part, you can go to your pharmacy and ask for a glass syringe (The bigger, The better). We can also use it for this job. Note Do not use plastic syringe, they are not adapted for this job. One 220v. microswitch It should be strong enough to support the load of the fridge compressor unit you have. Speak about this with your electronic part reseller. One manometer Fig.4 Fuel Pump Pressure vacuum manometer You will find this item in any car supply store. It is used to check fuel pump aspiration. It as generally scaled from -1 bar to + 5 bar stepped by 0.1 bar. It is really low cost item. Note This item is optionnal, but is useful to precisely set the depression value you want to apply. When using foam core forms, you should not apply too much vacuum or the form will collapse on itself. (Max depression for foam core is -0.4 bar, if you apply more, deformation may occur ruining your work.) Always perform some experiments before in order to know the limit of your materials. Some meters of plastic tubing It should be strong enough not to squeeze on itself under vacuum. A ping-pong ball I bet you are wondering what we gonna do with this ... some plywood to build the box around the regulation to protect user from electric shock. One spring + nuts and bolts you can canibalise one from a old camp bed or go to a outdoor shop to find spare ones. One Bycicle wheel ray This will be used to replace the iron wire connection on the admission advance regulation valve. The original one is too short and the wheel ray is threaded with the same path.

Building instructions There's two regulations possible, one using the car part and the other one using a glass syringe. Here below you will find: detailed instructions to build the car part one with some photos. a basic instructions to build the syringe regulation

Building the Car part based regulation Understanding the principle Fig.5 Car part regulation principle The principle is easy to understand. When connected, the compressor will turn ON and begin pumping. As more and more vacuum is applied to the inlet of the valve, the iron wire moves back releasing pression on the micro switch. When the OFF position is reached , the compressor unit stops. Due to unavoidable leaks, the vacuum will lower little by little and the iron wire will come back pushing the microswitch ON, starting the compressor unit for a new cycle. The more the bolt retaining the spring is tightened, the more vacuum depression you will get. Build a wooden box out of plywood in order to put all hazardous parts inside a secured area. Install the valve outside just letting the iron wire go inside. Bolt the microswitch to the base and connect the power wires to it (soldering is just fine). All you need is to install the bolt and spring and connect it to the iron wire coming from the valve. solder a push button guided to the switch by two piece of wood. Job is done... Fig.6 Car part regulation example Fig.7 Car part regulation bolt Install your electric junctions in an isolated box on top of your wooden box. This will be easier for later maintenance. Fig.8 Car part regulation overview

Syringe based regulation Understanding the principle Fig.6 Syringe regulation principle Principle is not very different from the car part based solution. The only limit here is that the system MUST be fixed verticaly and firmly attached due to the load. When connected, the compressor will turn ON and begin pumping. As more and more vacuum is applied to the inlet of the syringe, the piston moves up releasing pression on the micro switch. When the OFF position is reached , the compressor unit stops. Due to unavoidable leaks, the vacuum will lower little by little and the piston will come back due to the load in the basket pushing the microswitch ON, and starting the compressor unit for a new cycle. The more load in the basket, the more vacuum depression you will get. To build this regulation, take care to fix the syringe firmly. It is best to fix it using collars (like tie-raps) over small strip of rubber cutted out of bycicle wheel tubes. Be careful not to brake your syringe. Take care to limit the piston move with one or two nails. It should only be able to move until the switch is fully pressed ON, not lower in order to avoid mechanical load on the switch.

Installing your fridge compressor You should firmly install your fridge compressor on a wooden plate using the rubber damper you found when dismanteling it. Normally you shoud have let 10 cm of tubing. The last centimeter flattened for transport. We can now cut the in and out tubes in a proper way. Use a tube cuting tool to shorten them to 8cm. Identify the IN and OUT tubes by starting the compressor. Warning Some oil may be projected by the OUT tubes so keep yourself out of the way. On the OUT tube, fix a 20 cm tube. Guide this tube verticaly on a wood stick and cover the end with the ping-pong ball. drill small holes in the ball so that the air can get out. This little ball will act as an oil recuperator. Fig.6 Ping-Pong ball installation To the IN of the compressor you will fix the vacuum tube. On this tube you will add a "T" in order to get one tube to go to the inlet of the regulation and the other one to the bag. Optionaly you may add an other "T" to be able to add the manometer in the chain. But it can be a new source of leaks. Fig.6 Tube installation Now seal all links using silicone and tie-raps. Let dry... Proceed with the few tests. You should be able to fix most of the problem by yourself. if not, you can go to the Ikarus Eco8 forum and post your trouble.

The final result If you have choosen to go for the Car Part version, you will end up with something looking like this: Fig.6 Vacuum pump - lateral view Fig.6 Vacuum pump - top view Fig.6 Vacuum pump - front view

Tips for using your vacuum press Use only polyethylene plastic, this material cannot be glued using common epoxy glues. You will find this very useful when time to open bag will come. I use silicone to seal my bags. Others use window mastic but it is not as good. Sometimes, the plastic of the bag covers competely the pump tube thus stopping pump too soon. In order to avoid this case, here's a simple trick. Use a large wool string that you install all the way round your work inside the bag and put one of its end inside the vacuum tube. This will act as a air drain and will insure optimal depression repartition inside the bag Listen carefully to your bag sealing to detect leaks. You should track them to avoid unnecessary pumping. Most fridge compressor got a overheating protection, if it starts too often in a short period the motor may fall in secure mode. You will have to wait until relay cools down with cord unplugged from outlet.

Training landing gear

There is another type of landing gear already in this site but here is another option for you to choose, its made of 6mm CF tube and ping pong balls.

You just need to drill the balls and glue them with CA at the end of the tubes, the length of the tubes is 100cm.

To join them in the center just use two tie ups:

To attach them to the landing gear I use electric tape, it is more flexible than tie ups and will not pop off.

Snow skis

I wanted to land on all this white fluffy stuff that we have around here in Scandinavia, so I made a pair of very simple skis for my bird. They are made of one layer 3 mm balsa between two layers of 0,8 mm plywood. No rounded edges or any fancy stuff like that. The size is 50 x 360 mm for each ski.

(For you imperial people: 1 in = 25,4 mm.)

I placed the skis so half of the ski is in front of the main shaft, and half behind the shaft. This makes sure that the hole ski is loaded equally when the bird sits on the snow.

I guess I could have made the skis a little bit smaller, but it is better to make them to big than arrive at the field, assemble the bird, but it down on the snow - and whoops - they where to small...

They didn’t effect the hover or FF characteristics at all.

The last picture shows how I mounted the skis to the landing gear. There is actually nothing that stops them from rotating around the landing skid, except for Gods will... But that was not a problem. I did a few bad landings, slipping side ways but I hade no problems with the skis rotating on the skid.

(I haven’t painted the skis yet, I wanted to see if they worked first.)

Wire Wrappers

One of the smaller problems you face when building a model helicopter is fixing the wires that run from the battery, gyro or servo to the receiver in a clean way, but still easily detachable. You could use wire straps or tape, but that is more a permanent solution. Wrapping them around a pencil so that they form a helix is also done a lot, but they still are hanging around freely, ready to be caught on something.

Using a helix made out of thin plastic is perfect for our purposes. It's easy to apply, easy to detach and very cheap. Commercially available helix wire wrappers are too big and too heavy. Let's create our own at a fraction of the cost.

PET Soda Bottle Wrap around a stick Heat up Finishing

PET Soda Bottle PET is short for Polyethylene Terephthalate and is a kind of polyester plastic. As it's a thermoplast it can be shaped using heat. Get a PET soda bottle out of the recycle bin and cut the top and bottom from it. Slice it open lengthwise so that you get a flat piece of thin plastic. Use your steel rule to cut a strip of about 3mm wide.

Wrap around a stick First of all you need to get two pieces of tape ready. Then stick the piece of plastic to the top of the tape at a 45 degree angle. Check the second picture below. Wrap the tape around a stick. The diameter of the stick will define the diameter of the wire wrapper. Wrap the piece of plastic around the stick, maintaining a 45 degree angle. The sides do not have to meet. Leave a gap about the same width of the strip. When the whole strip is wrapped around the stick, fasten it with the second piece of tape.

Heat up Get out a torch of some kind. I use a pen torch as it is just the right size. Don't use a candle. This leaves too much soot and does not disperse the heat enough. You have to go rather close to get the plastic to set and you risk melting it entirely. The trick is to apply just enough heat and never too much. An alternative I haven't tried is a heat gun used for removing paint. It should work nicely. The aim is to heat up the plastic to that it gets above its plastisizing point of around 120 degrees Celcius. If you heat above 160 degrees Celcius, its melting point, you'll be left with a very thin strand of formless plastic that is useless. Be careful with the heat. Little bits at a time and certainly never too much. It's very easy to know if you have applied enough as the edges of the plastic will start to curl up. Don't heat any more as you are already around the melting point. A little practice makes perfect.

Finishing Remove the tape and slide the stick out of the helix. Test the spinginess of the wirewrapper. You'll be amazed at how far you can unwrap it, while it still returns to it's new shape. Cut off the edges that were covered by the tape and thus not set. Admire your work and try it on your helicopter. Use the wire wrapper to fasten the antenna to a skid.

Power Supply

The amps you get depends on the power supply you use. The power supply will show the amps rating somewhere on the label. The one I did does 10 amps at 12V and 25 amps at 5V.

Not really hard to make.. just need an old AT power supply (it can be done with an ATX supply, but a lot more wiring is necessary since these get power on and power good signals from the motherboard), some 10 ohm 10 watt "Sandbar" resistors, and an automotive 12V bulb. If your PS is less than 200 watts you only need 1 resistor. For larger wattage supplies 2 is sufficient.

First thing you do is unplug the PS and let it sit for a bit as there are some large capacitors in there that will give you quite a whack if they're not discharged completely! (I let mine sit overnight.. an electrical engineer could probably give a more accurate time.)

Next, open the box and remove the circuit board. Disolder all the computer wiring from the board remembering where the red, yellow, and black wires were. The red are the 5V+ wires, the yellow are the 12V+ wires, and the blacks are grounds. There are also 12V- (blue if I remember) and 5V- (green?) that could be used to get 24V or 10V when used with their positive counterparts, although not much current there.

Anyway, I only used the yellow, black, and red circuits on mine. I wired in one piece of 14AWG to the board where the yellows were connected, one 14AWG and 2 18 gauge wires to the grounds, and 2 18 gauge wires to the 5V (reds). I hooked the 2 10 ohm 10 watt resistors in parallel and connected them with the auto bulb to a 5V 18 gauge wire and the other side to one of the 18 gauge ground wires. The remaining 18 gauge ground and 5V wires will connect to the binding posts that will be installed to the case. The 14 AWG wires will connect to the binding posts for 12V out. (As an aside, you could just wire in 2 binding posts for 12V only if you don't need the 5V out.. I found that the 5V works great for running in brushed motors though!)

Mount the binding posts on the case (make sure they don't ground to the case! This will shut down the PS if your lucky and if not it will ruin it!) and connect the wires to them and reassemble the PS.

That's it.. you've now got a power supply capable of running field chargers and (if you wired the 5V in) running in new motors/brushes! If you want to get real fancy you could paint the case as well and label the outputs. I haven't done this yet but plan to. I've used mine for many hours since I made it (almost on constantly since then) and it's still working like a charm!

The only thing I noticed is that if you're running in a motor on the 5V line it's better to shut off the supply, connect the motor, then turn it back on. Sometimes the sudden hit of the motor can temporarily shut down the PS (usually 20 seconds or so and it powers back up). This can be built in less than an hour for less than $5 (USD) and will work as well as if not better than most commercial 12V only supplies.

Here is a little draw of the long text… (click on it for the large version)

And here is a photo of the final product…

CF Landing Gear

Here is the process of my first attempt at making a carbon landing gear for the ECO 8.

I bought a 6" PVC conduit coupling to use a mould. I then wax the mould with automotive wax because my release agent didn't show up in the mail yet. I laid 10 layers of carbon cloth inside the coupling and blew up a balloon to squeeze against the carbon cloth/epoxy mix. I popped the laminate off the next day and found the spreading strength is there but the laminate is a bit twisty. So I scuffed the laminate with some sandpaper. Put it back in the mould and lay up another 9 more layers. I ran out of carbon weave cloth so I added a layer of Fiberglas e-cloth and a layer of kevlar I have in my junk pile. So with a total of 19 ply I have a pretty thick laminate. I measured it at 2.7 mm. Here are some pictures of the process.

Here is a picture of the "top" of the laminate. This is the part against the PVC conduit. You can still see the wax residue.

Here is a picture showing the "bottom" of the laminate.

Ok this is what it looks like.

Home built landing gear

After suffering yet another landing gear breakage from a less than gentle landing. I decided to make my own. I spent alot of time looking for just the right material. This ranged from aluminium flat stock, to alum. tubing doubled up, to what I finally think is just the right stuff. For the struts I used 1/4'' solid aluminium rod from Lowes or Home Depot or Sears hardware. I can't remember which. Each strut is 10'' long and was bent in a vice with two bends per curve, in other words 4 little bitty bends per strut. The angle is about 50 degrees for down leg of strut. Holes were drilled and tapped at the end of each strut leg. I used 4-40 size threads

To attach the struts to the frame I used a 22mm long 1/4' rod that I drilled and tapped the ends of, for the frame mounting screws. I also drilled a hole perpendicular for attaching to the strut. Using a Dremel with a 1/4" sanding drum, gives the bottom of the strut a nice convex ( or is that concave ? )surface to mate with the skid nicely. After all parts were completed I used shrink tubing to cover each piece. Then fastened all together. You will notice there is a "step" on the skid for the pilot to enter the cockpit. Trust me, this was not planned, but rather a clever way to utilize the excess shrink tubing :-) . A little CA holds it fine. Another benefit of shrink tubing is it helps to hold everything together, it acts like a tension washer betweenthe various parts.

Clicking on picture brings up a bigger picture.

Everything you need,- 1/4" solid alum rod , ----Plastic Hangar 5/16" dia. , ----The hanger piece you need,

I used an old skid for measurement.

Attaching strut to frame. And then to attach the Skid to the Strut.
IMPORTANT: The Struts are at an angle, so you must drill through the Skids with this angle in mind, also the skids have a left and right side !! I used a piece of wood to get the spacing for the holes in the skids the correct distances.

Wood spacer for holes -----Frame attachment method -------------Final product ---------------Nice !-----

Home Made Modifications

This section in the School web site is about home made modifications to electric helicopters.

Every body can participate, and all of the modifications you send to us will be posted in the web, the only conditions are:

• That they have to proved in flight or working order (we trust your word for it)
• They save money, time or they make the helicopter or equipment perform better.
• There is no closed area, they can be modifications to any part of the helicopter or in the instruments we use to fly or built them. Even completely home build items are welcome.
• We will not evaluate them. All of them will be posted (unless we run out of space) we let you to chose the best for you…

If you want your ideas to be published please send my an e-mail to gonzalochomon@terra.es with photos of it and a brief description or instructions.

Your name or nick name and e-mail address will be posted with it (only if you authorize it) expect plenty of people asking questions to you by e-mail...

Front battery mount

	A velcro cable tie weighs about 0.1gr and holds the battery up very well. It is a bit cumbersome to mount the battery though.
	When you have a broken landing gear, just cut off the remaining bits until you are left over with the battery mount. The frame has the holes pre drilled for mounting. This solution weighs 5gr though.

Modify your swash from 90° to 120°

Here is a couple of ideas of how to modify the stock plastic ECO swash plate:

Gary's one with a plastic ring:

And here is Gonper's with a plastic ring piece a couple of screws and little pieces of CF tube:

Cutting Machine

I made a very simple cutting machine because to cut FG or CF is quite difficult and requires quite a lot of effort. With this machine I can cut FG or CF like butter and the finishing after some sanding it is very nice.

You just need a dremel or similar mine is a mumbo jumbo make but any of that tools type will work.

For the base is just agglomerated wood, to maintain the tool a couple of screw clamps. The bit is just a standard cutting bit for a dremel.

Top:

Bottom:

And here are some pieces cut with that machine:

Fix the tail blades slop

This idea is not mine but someone had to write it down and I decided to do it.

It's known that the tail blades grips of the ECO have a lot of play and some have experienced the blades and grips blow away with the inner part of the ball bearing.

So here is an idea to solve this:

A simple as using two same size ball bearings in the blade grip as well you will need a longer screw.

In the photos you can see an axial ball bearing but a thrust ball bearing can be used and even is a safer option.

This what it will look like:

Heat Sink for electric motors

Here is how to build your own Heat Sink for any electric motor size.

Hope that the photos are enough clear enough

This is what you need, aluminium sticky tape and a can (avoid beer cans alcohol is bad for your health

Cut the can in little pieces and stick them in the glued area of the tape with gaps between them of the with of the pieces plus 2mm.

With a bit of care fold it like in this picture

With the help of a balsa stick or similar glue it to the motor.

And here is the result

Raptor Tail Blades

I found that every time that I have to order something it takes more than a week to arrive to me, so once that I broke a tail blade, I decided to give a try to Raptors tail blades, instead of being more than a week grounded.

They are bigger but they can be cut and shaped to fit into the blade holders. Actually the quality of this blades are better than Ikarus ones and works really well.

Here is how to, just need to cut them 10mm in length insert and glue with CA a little piece of 3mm brass tube in the hole to resize it and grind it to make it fit in the blade holder.

Horizontal fin and tail boom support clamp

I've made a very neat & easy tail boom clamp from a tube clip. Took about 3 mins. to make and it's perfect. It has some rubber (old tyre inner tube) glued inside it to help grip the boom & a couple of holes for the bolt to go through. The hole the horizontal fin is bolted to was already there.

I'm dead chuffed about it.

Building a tail boom support and tail clamp for the ECO

This tail support is the same weight as the original Ikarus one, but it's cheaper and easier to repair. Building takes about 30 minutes and apart from the carbon tubes, most people will have all the material in stock. The clamp weighs 5 grams including the screws and ball link balls.

The clamp The supports Mounting the supports

The clamp The first thing you need to do is measure the outer diameter of the brass or plastic tubes you want to use. A piece of snake tube from the tail servo lead is perfect. Let's suppose the tube is 4mm thick. Take a piece of balsa the same thickness as the tube and cut out three squares each 5 by 5cm. Glue these pieces on top of each other, making sure you rotate the middle piece 90 degrees so that you get a piece of balsa plywood of 5 by 5cm. Try to bend it, you'll be amazed on how strong this is. Draw a horizontal and a vertical line halfway so you find the center of the piece. Take out your compass or a piece of tail boom (from a previous crash) and draw a circle of 18mm diameter in the middle. Draw some extra lines 13mm and 17mm each side of the center line that runs parallel to the nerves of the top layer. Cut the excess of the pieces by cutting along the lines 17mm from the center. Turn the piece by 90 degrees and cut 2mm outward of the circle. Cut two pieces of 1mm plywood the size of the top of the clamp pieces. If you use 4mm tubes you will need two pieces of 12mm by 34mm. Glue them on top and on the bottom where the tailfin and the balls links will be. Start up your drill press using a drill the same diameter as your tube (4mm in my example). Position your piece with the plywood pieces at the top and bottom. Drill through the plywood and the middle layer exactly at the position of the extra lines (13mm from center). Use your scroll saw to cut the piece in two in a right angle to the holes you just drilled. Now it is very easy to cut out the two half circles. If the circle is a little rough use a piece of tail boom, wrap it in some thin sandpaper and sand it smooth. Don't take off too much. Glue the brass or plastic tubes in the pieces. Decide what piece is going to be the bottom part and make sure you leave 1mm sticking out at the side of the plywood. If you don't do this, the ball links will be too close to the plywood. Fit the pieces and sand them so that you have a gap between them. If you don't have a gap, you won't be able to tighten them sufficiently. Cut two 2mm threaded rods to length (approx. 35 mm). Glue or solder a nut at one end thus creating a pretty long screw. Drill the horizontal fin at the appropriate places and put everything together according to the pictures. Use a black felt pen to paint them. You can download a PDF docment with a drawing of the tailfin here. Just print it with scaling or resizing OFF

The supports Take two pieces of 5mm carbon tube, each 39cm long. Use a 3mm drill to ream out the last 10mm of each end. Glue threaded push rod end pieces into these holes. Make sure they don't go deeper than 10mm. Put plastic ball links on each end.

Mounting the supports Drill a 2mm hole through the after landing gear at about 10mm out of the frame. Put a ball from a ball link through a 20mm M2 screw and stick it through the hole. Fasten it using a nut. Click one end of the supports on the balls on the landing gear and the other end on the balls on the clamp. Don't forget to use threadlock on every screw!

An easy way to mount the tail fins on the ECO8

Tail fins can be cut out of a board of 3mm ABS, 1.5mm G10, 1.5mm epoxy/glass board or 1mm carbon.
Mounting them is very easy as you can see from the pics below, using some cable ties. If you use the tail clamp, you can mount the horizontal tail fin on that.

Tail Servo mounted on the boom

Well here is cheap and easy way to upgrade your heli I been using it since the beginning and works great, you just need two tire ups and a bit of double side tape.

The rod is made in CF with aeroplane links but ball ends can be used as well

Guidance Notes For Jet Ranger Fuselage For ECO 8

Photo by Luxor

Lets assume that you're starting with a tried and tested ECO 8 and are wanting to retro-fit the Jet Ranger fuselage. If you're fitting this fuselage on a new ECO 8, I would strongly advise you to build the helicopter as standard and get the initial trimming and set-up done prior to fitting the Jet Ranger mods. It's a lot easier and safer.

Before you do anything you need to measure up the screw holes of the boom mounts and where they are on frame. Make sure you note the exact measurements on a sheet of paper.

The first thing to do is remove the original skids by removing the 4 screws which hold them to the side frames. (don't loose the screws, you'll need them later).

Next loosen the boom and slide it forward, lift the belt off the drive pulley and remove the boom assembly.

Refer to the sketch middle left of the German Instruction. Locate the main mechanism so that the two holes which held the rear skid bracket lines up with the rear locator on the new fuselage. Measure 42mm from the back of the main spindle to the front of the fuselage. As shown on the German Instructions.

Using the existing hole on each side of the main frames secure the mechanism to the new fuselage using 2 of the screws saved earlier when removing the skids. Next, when satisfied that the fuselage is actually in the right place, drill 2 x 2mm holes in the side frames in-line with the front locator on the fuselage. (Be careful not to drill through the fuselage as well). Secure the main frames to the new fuselage at the front using the remaining 2 screws.

The skid supports are screwed to the obvious pads of the fuselage.

You can use a hemistat to put rear skid screws in place.

Next comes the most awkward part of the installation, re-fitting the boom assembly.

Slide the boom in from the rear of the fuselage tail tube, making any modification to the rear of the tube to allow the tail rotor pitch mechanism to operate without interference. Once in position, re-fit the tail rotor drive belt and tension as required. Make sure at this point that the rotor direction is correct and the belt is free to turn. i.e. not twisted wrongly. The fuselage now prevents you from tightening the boom clamp screws, so drill 2 small holes in the fuselage, in line with the appropriate screws and tighten as required. To locate these holes you need to match screw distance on body ...

mark the screw holes on the outside of the body...

and tighten the screw though the body

Glue the 2 horizontal stabilizers one to each side of the fuselage about 1/3rd the way down the tail tube from the rear. Mount the vertical stabilizer using the same method as the original, but remember, if you fit it the scale way, the short end is to the bottom and you loose the protection for the tail rotor blade.

The last operation of fitting the new fuselage is to fit the nose section. The bottom sketch of the German Instructions shows 2 arrows at the top pointing downwards. The left-hand one points to the split line at the top rear of the front section. I would recommend that a 2cm wide piece is cut out here to allow the front to be slid easily past the rotor head components, without straining the molding too much. The right-hand arrow and the arrow at the bottom show the position of the "Klettband" which is actually "Velcro". I'm working on a better way, but it does work and the cockpit section doesn't fall off.

Ok, that's it, just decorate it, either with the decals included or in whatever manner suits you. Just remember that weight counts and every extra gram will reduce the performance.

I hope these guidelines have helped. As previously mentioned, you use them entirely at your own risk, but they should help you to resolve the German Instructions by explaining the sketches a bit more clearly. If you have any problems you can always e-mail me at bejay_uk_2000@yahoo.com, this is NOT an official help line, just an ECO 8 builder sharing information.

The images of the military Jet Ranger are by Radd. He came up with the system to screw the skid supports in place.

Tail Rotor Setup

Detailed setup Short overview on the setup of your gyro

Detailed setup A lot of first time builders have problems getting the Tail Rotor to work correctly. The following shows the steps I use to set mine up. The first things to look at are the obvious mechanical things. When you look at the tail rotor blades from the right side of the heli you should see the Ikarus logo facing out. Pay attention to the direction of the blade grips as well. See the Photo below. The next thing to check is the direction the T/R spins. Spin the main gear clockwise (the normal direction of rotation) by hand and the T/R blades should turn counter clockwise up into the main rotor when viewed from the right side of the heli. I reversed the direction of the belt when I first assembled mine and I could not keep the heli from spinning around as I powered up. Don't forget to check the belt tension, Ikarus suggests that you should be able to compress the belt together 5mm for the belt to be tensioned correctly. Warning Always make sure that the motor is disconnected or at least disengage the gears before doing the following power on checks. You don't want the main rotor to start up by accident. Disconnect the gryo when first checking the T/R movement, you don't want it to confuse things. You'll need to turn on the radio and the receiver to perform the following checks. With the rudder stick centered the T/R servo lever should be perpendicular to the servo body, remove the lever and reseat it or use the Sub-Trim if necessary to accomplish this. It is also important that the lever that moves the tail slider is perpendicular to the tail boom when the servo is centered. Center it on the edge of the tube where it meets the tail drive body. It is easy to see this by looking thru one of the unused holes on the lever. If your servo is mounted on the Tail boom like mine you will need to move the servo assembly back and forth to correctly position the lever. Once it is positioned correctly tighten the clamp. See the pictures below. You should also notice that I am using the outer holes in the levers for maximum throw. Note If you don't want to turn the Heli upside down you can use a mirror under the tail while you make the adjustments The next thing to check is to make sure that the T/R servo moves in the correct direction. Look at the following picture to see how to position the T/R blades for the checks. Look at the T/R blades from above and behind the heli. When you move the stick to the left the pitch should decrease (blade twists counter clockwise) as shown in the following series of pictures. When you move the stick to the right the pitch should increase (blade twists clockwise) as shown in the next series of pictures. Note Don't restrict the T/R servo travel, set the ATV's for the Rudder channel to their max value in both directions so that the Gyro has the full range of servo travel to work with. If you don't max them out you limit the servo movement to 50° instead of the full 60°. I have to assume at this point that you have followed the manufacturers directions as to the correct mounting of the gyro. Because there are so many available I can't tell you how to do this. Please note if the gyro direction setting is wrong it will not change the way the stick moves the T/R blades, it only adds to or subtracts from the stick movements. Turn the receiver power off and plug the gyro in, reconnect the servo and turn on the receiver again. Put the blades in the same position as before. Lift the heli holding the tail in your right hand and quickly push the tail away from you in a rotating motion simulating a turn to the left. The gyro should move the T/R blades as if you had moved the stick for a right turn. You can look at either the servo arm or the blades to see the movement, use whichever is easier to see. If it moves the blades like a left turn command then reverse the gyro direction. Refer the previous series of photos to be sure of the normal movements. Now all you need to do is setup the gyro following the directions supplied by the manufacturer and at this point you should have a well behaved tail. One final note, Ikarus has 3 different gear ratio's available for the T/R. A 40t gear is supplied with the kit, it provides a 4.5:1 ratio to the main rotor. There are also 35t and 45t gears available for 5.15:1 and 4:1 ratios respectively. In my experience the 40t gear works very well and you will probably have no need to use the others. Unless you make substitutions to the T/R assembly like perhaps different T/R blades that might provide more or less thrust.

Short overview on the setup of your gyro Note Having all those neat electronic things with all their different setups and adjustments to our availability we tend to forget the most important part : they don't replace a good mechanical set, merely "enhance" it. Hook up your tail servo directly to your Rx Make sure all trims, ATV and centering is at normal position (0 or 100%) With the stick centered, mount a pretty big servo horn to your servo and make sure it's exactly centered (it's more accurate to say it needs to be perpendular to the tail control rod though). Connect the tail control rod to the servo at a distance of 18 to 20mm from center (if possible). The longer servo horn will give you a faster tail movement and better gyro control Adjust the control rod on the tail bell crank so you have a full deflection from the tail slider when moving the yaw stick full left and right. Make sure your servo moves in the right direction. Check the tail setup page on the Dream Models site for this. Set you gyro gain to 50%, centered and throw to 100%. Hook it up in the system. Chances are you don't need any other adjustment regarding throw. Make sure your gyro compensated in the right direction. You can do this by watching the tail blades move, or by spinning up slowly without the main blades and holding the tail. When moving the tail, you should feel the gyro compensate. It's best to have somebody move the throttle stick while you hold the heli. Keep in mind that heading hold gyros take control of the tail. Only in normal mode will the tail slider directly respond to stick movement. Heading hold gyros take from 5 to 30 seconds to "set". When switching on your Rx, wait for a little while before moving the tail stick or teh heli! It's pretty normal for the tail slider to move one way totally when initialised. Wiggling the tail stick and letting it go should recenter it. Heading hold does not need revo mixing (pitch to tail mixing), so keep it at 0% when in HH mode. Normal mode requires between 10 to 30%.

Setting the main blades of the ECO

Fastening the blades

Fastening the blades Fastening the blades with the correct tension is important. At spool up the blades will fold back as they will lag. When the rotor is at a non-zero pitch setting (it almost always is at spool up), the tip of the blades will point up or down with positive or negative pitch setting respectively. As the blades will not lag equally there will be an enormous difference in angle of attack between the two blades. This will result in a very aggressive wobble. It can become so big that the blades strike the tail boom even before the rotor get up to speed. To prevent this you need to fasten the blade holding screws. Don't fasten them all the way as you risk crushing the blades and then risk spitting the wood. The blades also need to be able to move fore and aft during flight. This is called the swing hinge and is important for stability, specially during forward flight. So how much should the screws be set? Fasten them until the blades just slide down when the Helli is on it's side. Once you get comfortable flying it you can experiment with the setting.

Balancing helicopter blades

Things that I use:

• Single edge razor blade
• Small vice
• Blade balancer
• High point balancer

Steps to follow:

1. First put the single edge razor in the small vice with the edge facing up.



2. Put one blade on the razor's edge and move the blade back and forth until you find the balance point.



3. Push lightly and roll the blade on the razor's edge. This will put a cut mark on the blade.



4. Rotate the blade 45 degrees clockwise and find the balance point again.

   Push lightly and make another mark.



5. Now rotate the blade counter-clockwise 90 degrees so the blade is aligned 45 degree the other way on the razor.

   Find the balance point again

   Push lightly and make one more mark.



6. Flip the blade over and you will see three lines. The lines should intersect each other at one point. This point is the span-wise and chord-wise CG of the blade.



7. Do the same to the other blade.



8. Put a screw through the hole of the blade attachment point.

   Put the blades one on top of each other.

   Check the relative position of the CG points.

   If the CG points are the same place on both blades you are lucky.

   Chances are that they will not. One CG will be offset from the other.



9. Bolt the blades up on the balancer.

   Put the blades and the balancer on a High Point balancer or similar device.

   If you don't have either two water glass will also work.

   Find the lighter blade.



10. Take the blades off the balancer.

    Put trim tape on the lighter blade to move the CG point to match the heavier blade.

    If the lighter blade has a CG point closer to the root of the blade, put trim tape on the tip of the blade to move the CG point and vice versa.

    Double check now again from point one (1) until both CG are in the same place.

11. Now bolt the blades back on the balancer and see which blade is lighter.

    Put trim tape on the CG point of the lighter blade to make both blades the same weight.



12. To aid in tracking, put different color tape on the tip of the blade. Make sure you put the same length and width of trim material.



Your blades are balanced and ready to go on the helicopter.

First set up for Futaba 6X (6XAs/6XHs) known as well as Futaba ff6

I'm new to helis and I had some difficulties (two days with sleeping problems) to set up my brand new TX as I was not used to computerized radio control systems. I hope this can help you out.

First of all:

You need to know that there is not a good way to use this TX with the stock swash plate that comes with the ECO 8/16 kit, as it a 90º swash is not supported by the TX software (didn't know when bought it, if so I will have to choose another one…). But if you already own one of this nice radios, it means that you will have to spend some more money on an aluminium 120º swash like this:

Nice piece,isn't it?

Or spend some time modifying yours like:

Thank you Gary for the pictures of this nice modification.

Or like this:

Thank you to myself for this photo.

Here is a simple guide to make you first set up:

First step:

• Read the manual carefully, you have to read it, if you don't read it; you will we not able to understand how it works and, you will not understand what I'm talking about here.

You have to read as well the airplane sections because some of the main functions are described there and not in the helicopter section.

• Put batteries in TX, switch it on, select a memory, bla, bla, bla… (you read it?)

Second step:

Set up your RX channels:

• Battery disconnected on your heli.
• Channel 1 - Aileron. This goes to the servo on the left side of the swash (When I say the left I mean the left when your are standing beside the ECO and both of your noses are pointing in the same direction)
• Channel 2 - Elevator. This goes to the servo on the back of the swash.
• Channel 3 - Throttle. Goes to your ESC (also powers your RX via the BEC)
• Channel 4 - Rudder. Goes to your gyroscope and then to your tail servo.
• Channel 6 - Aileron Goes to the servo on the right of your swash.

Third step:

Choose your swash plate type.

• TX on only.
• Following the manual you have to chose HELI menu functions and then SWSH 3 this is the one that you have now on your heli.

Forth step:

Centering the servos.

• Make sure your motor is disconnected.
• Center the sticks and trims tabs.
• Connect your TX and then your battery, the servos will move to their electromechanical centre position.
• Switch the Rx and then the Tx off.
• Unscrew the servo arms and mount them back in the closest position to 90º with the rods, see photo.

90°where you see the red arrow.

• Make sure your motor is disconnected.
• Center the sticks and trim tabs.
• Connect your TX and then your battery, the servos will move to their electromechanical centre position.
• Use STRM (sub trim function) to get 90°between the servo arms and rods.
• Switch everything off.
• Now you will have to adjust your rods to get your swash plate completely flat and the distance between the swash and the frame should be 17 mm. and your tail blades with more or less 0º pitch.
• Make sure your motor is disconnected.
• Center the sticks and trim tabs.
• Switch your Tx on and then your Rx, the servos will move to their electromechanical center position again.
• Check that the servos arms are in 90º with the rods.

Fifth step:

Reverse servos.

• Do not move your throttle channel now (left stick up or down).
• Tilt right stick to the right, then the swash have to lean to the right if it doesn't then reverse channel 1 and 6 in the REV menu.
• Tilt right stick to the front, then the swash have to lean to the heli nose if it doesn't then reverse channel 2 in the REV menu.
• Tilt left stick to the left then the servo have to push the tail rod, if not reverse channel 4, you can find more info on tail and gyro set up in the tail setup page

Sixth step:

Setting up the AFR values.(The Mama of the Papa) Thise are the de rates and directions of the mixing throttle with cyclic.

• Now move your left stick up and watch your swash. This has to go up! If some of the servos are puling it down then reverse the AFR value from + to - or otherwise in that servo they should keep 50% value.
• Check all the servos do the right movements, stick up - swash up, stick down - swash down.
• Check that the distance in middle sticks position between your swash and the bearing plate should be 17 mm. left stick down 12 mm. top left stick 22 mm. If this varies a lot, you will need to adjust the rods or change the ball links in the servo arms.

Seventh step:

Setting throttle hold.

Go to HOLD in the menu, activate this function, and input 0% value. You control this function with the switch at the top right on the TX.

It is very useful when you are going to get close to the heli and you do not want it to start up. Use it always before connecting batteries if you do not want surprises…

Eighth step:

Setting throttle curve.

This TX only has a three point throttle curve. Go to HV - T in the menu and input +50% value, then you will have a curve like 0-75-100 for down, middle and top up stick positions.

Ninth step:

Checking the throttle.

• Move the motor to the front of the heli to separate it from the main gear. We do not want the heli to spin up, only the motor to run.
• Check that the throttle stick is completely down and throttle hold is on.
• Connect the motor, if it begins to run then disconnect and reverse the channel, if it doesn't then move the stick up an down until it begins to run and then reverse if necessary.

Tenth step:

• Perhaps you will need to use some ATV for limiting your servos travels.
• Double check that everything works ok…
• Copy this setup in another memory.
• Switch everything off.
• You are done, congratulations.

If you have more questions or you find that something here is wrong or can be added, do not hesitate to contact me, you can find me in under the name of Gonperin at the IkarusBBS.

Robbe/Futaba FC-16 radio setup for 90° swash plate

Just like many of you, I picked up helicopter flying after having some years of experience with model airplanes. I thought helicopters would present a greater challenge, and in my case I was right. The cost of a model helicopter was no big issue to me as far as the budget goes, as I already had the radio, servos and so on to install in my new helicopter.

I guess that once you get started you can make it as expensive as you like. Buy al the tuning parts available in CFK, GFK, and aluminum and convert your Eco 8 into a real 3D monster machine.

In my case, the budget for helicopters is limited. Not by my bank account, but by my wife... a real setback once I realized that my Futaba FC-16 radio does not support the stock 90° swash plate of the Eco 8. Whining to my wife about 'needing' a new radio was without success, and it severely damaged my self-esteem once she started shouting that I should 'stop whining like a five-year old'. That's hard to cope with once you're over thirty.

Back to the essence of this article. I have an Eco 8 with the stock 90° swash plate, and a Futaba FC-16 radio that supports 120° and 180° swash plate setups, but no 90° setup like in the Eco 8. Searching for a solution I found the following trick which works well for me.

The types of swash plates Programming steps Testing your setup Finalizing

The types of swash plates The FC-16 supports four types of swash plates. The first type, H-1 consists of a setup with two servos at a 90 degree angle. The second type, H-2, is the one we will use. The third type is the 120 degree setup which would be used with the 120 degree aluminum swash by Ikarus. The fourth type is also a 120 degree setup, but with an uneven distribution of servos; one on one side of the helicopter body, two on the opposing side. In the diagram you can find a summary of the four types of swash plates supported by the FC-16, and how the servo's (red dots) are positioned. The red numbers indicate the channel which the servo is on. The arrow indicates the forward flight direction. As mentioned before, we'll use type H-2. This type applies the so called Heim system. More about this later. If you observe the diagram carefully, you'll discover that the elevator servo in this type is supposed to be attached to the front of the swash plate. In the Eco 8, our elevator servo is attached to the rear. We can easily fix this by reversing our elevator channel, channel 2. What you'll find though, is that this does not complete our quest to fix the problem. The elevator servo does not respond to increases and decreases of the pitch/throttle. So the two roll servos raise the swash, while the elevator servo stays in place… a possibly dangerous situation, don't you agree ? I'm sure this would severely influence our flying performance, and not for the better… This is the result of using the Heim system. This system is designed for use with a mechanical mixer. That's why one servo seems to be 'paralyzed' during pitch adjustments. No worries though! We have a FC-16, which features two independent electronic mixers. Only to our advantage as electronic mixers show no signs of strain and friction like mechanical mixers do. So, we need to setup one of these mixers to activate our 'paralyzed' servo using the inputs sent from the left stick. The next section describes what we need to do to accomplish this.

Programming steps Below you'll find the step-by-step instructions to setup your FC-16 for the 90 degree swash plate. 1. Turn on your transmitter.   2. Enter programming mode by pressing the upper and lower MODE keys simultaneously.   3. Browse through the menus using the left and right MODE keys until you find SWSH. 4. Select SWSH 2 by using the DATA keys.   5. Browse through the menus using the MODE keys until you find REV. 6. Press the CURSOR keys until the little triangle above channel 2 flashes.   7. Press the lower DATA key ( - ) to reverse this channel.   8. Browse through the menus using the MODE keys until you find PMX 1. 9. Press the CURSOR keys until INH starts flashing   10. Press the DATA + key. INH should now change into ON. This means the mixer is now enabled.   11. Press the CURSOR keys until the upper little triangle flashes. 12. Press the DATA keys to move the triangle over the '3' in order to select channel 3 (throttle/pitch) as our mixer input.   13. Press the CURSOR keys until the lower little triangle flashes. 14. Press the DATA keys to move this triangle over the '2' in order to select channel 2 (elevator) as our mixer output.   15. Press the CURSOR keys until the percent sign flashes. 16. Use the DATA keys to set the value at something like 50%. Moving the left stick forward and backward (throttle/pitch) should now move the swash up and down evenly. If it still tilts forwards or backwards slightly in the upper and lower extremities, play around with the value a bit until you get it right.   17. Exit programming mode by pressing the upper and lower CURSOR keys simultaneously.   That's it. You've set up your transmitter to support the 90 degree swash of the Eco 8 !

Testing your setup Now, with your transmitter (TX) still on, connect the battery of your helicopter receiver (RX). You might want to make sure your motor does not start by disconnecting the motor power leads, or enabling a 0% throttle switch on your TX like I have. Check that all movements of the swash correspond with the appropriate stick movement (I'm applying the MODE 2 stick setup; throttle/pitch and rudder on the left stick, elevation and roll of the swash on the right stick): Stick movement Channel Observation on swash plate Left stick forward 1,2,3 and 6 Swash moves up Left stick backward 1,2,3 and 6 Swash moves down Left stick left 4 No movement (tail rotor moves) Left stick right 4 No movement (tail rotor moves) Right stick forward 2 Swash tilts forward Right stick backward 2 Swash tilts backward Right stick left 1 and 6 Swash tilts left Right stick right 1 and 6 Swash tilts right Below are optional:     2nd slider up (hovering pitch adjustment) 1, 2 and 6 Swash moves up slightly 2nd slider down (hovering pitch adjustment on) 1, 2 and 6 Swash moves up slightly If either movement does not correspond to the movements described in the above table, try reversing the corresponding channel by using the servo reverse function REV. For the optional slider to adjust the hovering pitch, you might want to program PMX 2 (the second mixer) to get the swash to move up and down evenly. Just program the input to channel 6, output to channel 2 and the amount to something like 15%.

Finalizing The most ideal situation would be to either purchase the Ikarus aluminum tuning swash plate, or a radio with support for 90° swash. In my personal experience I've found that the trick that I describe in this article is somewhat inferior to a matched system. Especially the elevator servo behaves differently when increasing pitch. It slightly tilts the swash forward just below hovering pitch, tilts perfectly horizontal at hovering pitch, and slightly forward again just above hovering pitch. Not something I seem to be able to fix correctly - once you realize this, it's easily compensated with a little help from the right stick. In résumé: if you have the budget and a cooperative wife, go for the 120° swash plate from Ikarus rather than applying this trick. It'll perform more accurately, plus the swash plate load is distributed evenly over three servos, rather than over two. If you find any inconsistency, or if you feel a correction/remark/comment is in place, feel free to contact me via e-mail: k.dalmeijer@chello.nl . Happy flying!

Hitec Eclise 7 radio setup

It seems there are a few people out there like me that because we did not know any better purchased the Eclipse 7 for use with the ECO only to find out that we will have to use the mechanical mixer because the TX does not have 90 deg swash mixing. Do not worry it is possible and this is how it is done.

First thing you need to do is set up your RX like this;-

• Channel 1 - Aileron. This goes to the servo on the left side of the swash (When I say the left I mean the left when your are standing beside the ECO and both of your noses are pointing in the same direction)
• Channel 2 - Elevator. This goes to the servo on the back of the swash.
• Channel 3 - Throttle. Goes to your ESC (also powers your RX via the BEC)
• Channel 4 - Rudder. Goes to your tail servo.
• Channel 6 - Pitch. Goes to the servo on the right of your swash.

Now we move to the TX. Use the manual to set yourself up a 180 deg swash Heli, the manual is quite clear and I had no problem following it but if there is enough call for it I will do a step by step for this.

OK, here is where we actually get the swash to work correctly. If you turn your RX and TX on (engine disconnected please) and increase and decrease the throttle you will see that the swash tilts back and forth, this is not desired behavior. What we need to do is get those pitch movements working on the servo on the back (Channel 2).

To do this we are going to use one of the Programmable Mixers on the TX. To do this we have to enter "Programming Mode", it is done like this;-

1. Make sure your ECO's battery is disconnected and your TX is on (and your ECO is selected)
2. Hit the first two buttons at the same time on the bottom left (Edit up and down, not Engine lock cut). The TX should now have something like EPA 100% on it.
3. Hit the Edit up button (First button on the left) 6 times until you see PMX1 inh (Stands for Programmable Mixer 1 Inhibit).
4. Hit the Active/Inhibit button (Last button on the Right) the display will change and have a lot of junk on it.
5. Select the Master Channel by hitting the Cursor Right button (4th button).
6. Set the Master Channel to 6 by hitting the Data Increase button 5 times (5th Button).
7. Select the Slave Channel by hitting the Cursor Right button (4th button).
8. Set the Slave Channel to 2 by hitting the Data Increase button once (5th Button).
9. Select the Mix Ratio by hitting the Cursor Right button (4th button).
10. Select the Mix Ratio to 70% by hitting the Data Decrease button 30 times (6th Button, and you can just hold it down, you don't really need to do it 30 times).
11. Turn on the mixer by switching the top right switch toward you. The screen should now look like this;-

12. Your done!! Exit from Programming mode (first two buttons at the same time on the bottom left) hook up your ECO (engine disconnected still) and move the throttle, the swash should now move up and down smoothly.

1. You may need to reverse some servos, I did not my servos just worked correctly.
2. You will notice that the Elevator Trim is backwards, don't worry this is normal with this mix.

Happy Flying

Smooth Ball Links

The first thing to address is the friction of the ball links on all linkages. The links should snap onto the balls but not be so tight that the link and its control rod can't swivel under its own weight. Disassemble the links from the head, swash plate, servos, and tail. Working one at a time, connect each connecting rod's link to its associated ball and make sure that it moves freely in its normal operating position. The link and its connecting rod should swing like a pendulum. If you have to push the connecting rod to move it, the ball link has too much friction and needs to be loosened.

Loosen the ball link by squeezing it with a pair of pliers (smooth jaws work best) as shown in the photo below. You may need to squeeze the ball link multiple times to reduce its friction.

Addendum by Bert Van Kets

When using regular plyers you risk snapping the links when the plyer slides off. By using a Vise Grip plyer you can set the minimum opening and adjust if necessary. This way you don't risk of the plyers snapping shut, taking the link with it. I use the smallest needle nose Vise Grip plyer with great succes.

Smooth Tail Slider and Pivot

If you are having problems with the tail wagging, check the tail slider control arm. If there is too much friction from either the control arm or from the servo control rod, the tail will wag.

What is happening is that the gyro tells the tail pitch control servo to move. Nothing happens because of friction in the mechanism. The gyro increases its control output to get the tail to move. Eventually, the gyro's output forces the servo to overcome the mechanism's friction. Once in motion, the tail pitch mechanism will move too far, forcing the tail to wag in one direction. The process repeats in the opposite direction when the gyro senses too much tail motion.

Remove the control rod from the tail pitch control arm and check that the control arm and the servo's control rod have no friction. Blowing on the control arm should cause it to move, yet it should not be loose on the pivot.

If it is tight, remove the control arm from the pivot. The photo below shows that the pivot has some ridges in it from the molding process.

Using a thin piece of 600 grit sandpaper, lightly polish the pivot until the control arm rotates smoothly on the pivot. Be careful to not polish too much or in one spot. The control arm should not wobble. The right amount seemed to be when the ridges disappeared.

Chasing vibrations in the ECO 8

A smooth vibration free helicopter is a joy to fly. On the other hand an ECO 8 with a lot of vibration can be a handful.

Vibrations can be broken down into two categories in the ECO 8: A high frequency vibration and a low frequency vibration.

High frequency vibration. Low frequency vibration

High frequency vibration. High frequency vibration is generated from the tail rotor. You can feel it but spooling up the helicopter on the bench and holding onto the tail boom. You can feel this vibration as a buzz. You can also see this vibration while the tail rotor shaft buzz. The tail rotor shaft will look like a wave rather than a straight shaft when it buzzes. When you are flying you can see the vertical and/or horizontal tail fin tips buzz in a blur. To get rid of the high frequency vibration you need to get the tail rotor assembly balanced. First you need to make sure the tail rotor output shaft is absolutely straight, to check it just roll it over a glass surface. The stock tail rotor shaft is very soft. You can bend it just by hitting the tail rotor blade on the ground. The optional hardened tail shaft is a lot better option. Another alternative is to buy some 3 mm hardened drill blanks or 3mm piano wire, cut to length and grind two flats on the shaft with a Dremel tool.  The next area is to balance the tail blades. Generally the tail blades are pretty well balanced. However the screws that attach the blade grips may be off just a little bit to create an imbalance situation. To balance the tail rotor blades first you determine the weight of the tail blades. You can use the tail shaft or similar if you hold it between two glasses you will see which one is heavier. Alternately you can put the blades on a gram scale and see which one is lighter. Now cut a piece of masking tape and put it on the lighter blade. Spool the helicopter up without the main blades while holding onto the tail boom. You will find a situation where the right amount of masking tape on the light blade will give you minimum buzz. Now use some finger nail polish and paint to substitute the masking tape on the blade around the middle of the span. Once you have a well-balanced tail rotor you will find that you gyro works a lot better.

Low frequency vibration This is the hard one because there are so many places that could induce a low frequency vibration. Most of the low frequency vibrations come from the main rotor head. The symptoms of the low frequency vibration include: Tail boom bobbing up and down and shaking like a waveform Antenna tube shaking Canopy shaking Servo wire shaking Landing skids shaking To get rid of the low frequency vibration you have to be very patient. So let's start from the top. There are four metal shafts that will contribute to the vibration: The feathering spindle, the main rotor shaft, the flybar and the tail rotor transmission shaft. The stock ones are always very soft. The main shaft and feathering spindle has a hardened version. The feathering spindle is the first one to get bent. Sometimes a minor hard landing will cause a bent spindle. The main shaft will bend from a tip over to a crash. The flybar will bend from a crash. The transmission shaft is always the last to bend but check it when you have a tail boom strike or the tail rotor hit the ground. To check any bends in any shaft just roll it on a glass surface as I said before. The tightness of the feathering spindle will cause a vibration. When you tightened the nuts on the feathering spindle make sure the main rotor blade grips will rotate freely. If you feel any grittiness the nuts are tightened too much. This applies to both the stock nylon lock nuts and the special T nuts with the thrust bearing kit. The flybar is the next area to look. The flybar needs to be balanced. That does not mean the flybar is exactly the same distance on both sides physically. The flybar paddles can have a difference in weight so the flybar may be shifted by ½ to 1 ½ mm to one side to get the perfect balance. Statically balancing the flybar may not help totally. The best way to balance flybar is also by trial and error. To start, make sure that the flybar is equal distance on both sides of the rotor head. Spool up the rotor head without blades and see if you can feel any low frequency vibration. If you do, mark the flybar with some indelible marker and start shifting the flybar from one side a little at a time. You will find the perfect spot where the rotor head will spool up very smooth. Another area to look at the flybar is the straightness. The flybar bend pretty easy because it is so long. Look from one flybar paddle over the rotor head toward the next flybar paddle. Check if you can detect any creakiness in the flybar. A bent flybar may be balance but will still induce a lot of vibration. The next area to check is the main shaft. The best way to check the shaft is to roll it on a perfectly smooth piece of glass. You can also chuck it up on a lathe or drill press and spin it up. You need to chuck it up both ends to check. A bent main shaft will induce a lot of low frequency vibration. The main blades will need to be CG’d and balanced to achieve a smooth flying helicopter. Check the article on balancing main blades for the proper procedure. One blade off by 1/100th of a gram will induce a low frequency vibration. Adding trim-tape or paint arbitrarily will not smooth out the helicopter. You need to add weight precisely at the CG of the blade to achieve smoothness. Blade tracking is also a main induction of low frequency vibration. You need to put two different color tape exactly the same size on the tips of the blades. Put the helicopter into a stable hover and have someone watch the tips of the blade. The two colors need to be in perfect alignment. If one color seems higher than the other does then you need to adjust the pushrod between the swash-plate and the mixer on the main blade grip to change the pitch of the main blade. The flybar seesaw on both the plastic stock head and the aluminum upgrade head can be a cause of vibration when they are not balanced. The plastic one can be harder to check because of the drag on the pivot point. The aluminum one will hang lower on one side if it is out of balance. The flybar control arm pushrods can contribute to low frequency vibration. Make sure the pushrods are the same length and have the same bend to them. The top main shaft bearing holder and bearing can also induce vibration. The stock plastic bearing holder will wear out after a while. Especially after numerous crashes. If you cannot get rid of a low frequency vibration this is the area to check. The top bearing has to fit snuggly in the holder. If you can feel any play between the bearing and the holder you need to change the holder. The top bearing can also get damaged from a crash. This is another area to fix when you have a stubborn low frequency vibration. Changing to the upgraded aluminum top-bearing holder is a good fix. The last item to check is the tail transmission shaft. If the shaft is bent from a crash you will see a low frequency vibration. That also holds true if you tightened down the plastic pulley too much and distorted the shape. Bottom line is if you see the pulley wobble you helicopter is wobbling.   Note If all else fails, tear down the whole helicopter and rebuild it. :-D

Upgrading the ECO, Part I

The Big Three

These upgrades are the ones that will make the biggest changes to the flying abilities of the Eco. A well built Eco upgraded as above will prove to be an enjoyable little machine.

The Autoration Hub Bracing the frame The rear mounted tail servo and boom brace

The Autoration Hub If any of the upgrades can be considered a must then this is the one and should be carried out before any other. As the name suggests this upgrade consists of a new main gear hub with a one way bearing installed that will allow the rotor head to revolve independently of the motor and permit autorotations. That is controlled descents without power. However that is not our main concern. Allowing the rotor head and blades to revolve while the motor is slowing or stationary, to “free wheel” if you like, means that the headspeed is not slowed abruptly as soon as the motor speed is reduced. In a fixed drive system the blades will have to try to turn the motor once the power is reduced. If you are lucky this will slow the head speed rapidly. If you are not so lucky it will strip teeth from the main gear. Either way you are not going to have a very smooth flight!

Bracing the frame Anyone who has operated the cyclic and collective controls of their standard Eco while it is on the bench will have no doubts about the amount of flex in the frame. In fact it moves so much that I was really amazed that I had any control over the helicopter at all for it seemed that any movement of a control resulted in a movement of the frame rather that an adjustment to the flying surfaces. Thankfully the remedy is simple and effective. A brace needs to be installed between the side frames at a position just behind the motor. Some excellent aluminium braces have recently become available commercially. In the past equally good results have been gained by making a brace from a piece of carbon fibre plate or a section of the Eco plastic motor mount (a good option if you have just upgraded to the aluminium mount and have the old plastic one laying around). This simple upgrade will yield a dramatic improvement in control precision and make the Eco a much easier helicopter to fly. It is for that reason that I have placed it at the number two spot. Others, no doubt, will have their own ideas!

The rear mounted tail servo and boom brace One of the most important factors in a well behaved helicopter is good tail control. This relies on accurate control inputs from the servo to the tail rotor. Unfortunately connecting the two with a long “snake” as with the Eco is not conducive to accurate control. It is true that with careful placement of the snake and with sufficient securing the system can be made to work reasonably well but it will never be as accurate and friction free as a direct link between servo and tail. The rear servo mount places the tail control servo at the front of the boom. From here a control rod of carbon fibre can be run directly to the tail control horn. If good quality clevises are utilised at either end of the control rod a near friction and play free control system is produced. To make the most of our new found tail control a set of boom braces is highly recommended. All this good work is wasted if the tail can be held accurately but the helicopter still moves because the boom “gives”. Remember our flexible frame? Two braces run from the main frame to a point towards the rear of the boom will stiffen the helicopter considerably enabling us to make the most of the tail control. The gain on the gyro can now be turned up without the tail oscillating.

Upgrading the ECO, Part II

Carbon and Aluminium

Booms and Blades The Swashplate The Upgraded Tail Pitch Slider Carbon Frames and Aluminium Motor Mount The Aluminium Head and Washout Mixer Arms

Booms and Blades The question is often asked as to when the Eco pilot should change from his standard boom and blades. The simple answer is when he no longer suffers from boomstrikes! The standard boom is much criticised for being so soft and easily damaged. Whilst this is true, it is a property that can be very useful in the early days as a boomstrike with the standard boom fitted will generally not damage the blades, which are fair more expensive to replace. The same occurrence with a nice set of carbon blades and a carbon boom fitted can be very expensive. So wait. The benefits of a set of true running and smooth blades and a stiff carbon boom will not be fully realised in those early flights in any case. Later as the pilot becomes more proficient a set of good glass or carbon blades can transform the way an Eco flies and of course a change to symmetrical blades is essential before the joys (?) of inverted flying can be sampled. If you intend staying right side up there is something to be said for staying with semi-symmetrical blade profile, as there are gains to be had in terms of duration over a set of symmetrical blades. [Put simply, they will produce more lift and so require less power to keep the helicopter airborne.]

The Swashplate If you have been flying your Eco for a while and still have a swashplate in one piece, you have done well. If it has survived intact it is almost certainly exhibiting a fair amount of play, which will be making the flying controls very much less precise. The solution is to replace the swashplate with an aluminium upgrade. This is a beautifully made part that is both durable and free of play. It will transform the accuracy with which the helicopter can be flown and has the added benefit of offering a choice of either 120° or 90° ccpm. The aluminium swashplate might at first sight seem an expensive part but it is in truth only the cost of two standard swashplates and will outlast both of them whilst offering much improved control. Should you damage the standard swashplate then replace it with the upgrade unless funds are very limited. Otherwise keep it at the top of your shopping list.

The Upgraded Tail Pitch Slider In use the standard tail pitch slider wears rapidly and develops play, which has a detrimental effect on tail rotor control. No only does tail control feel less precise but it is quite possible that the gain on the gyro will have to be turned down to prevent it “hunting” back and forth in this area of free play. A ballraced aluminium upgraded is available that is a smooth and accurate fit on the tail rotor shaft. When combined with a ballraced control arm this upgrade will produce a superbly accurate tail control system.

Carbon Frames and Aluminium Motor Mount I place these two upgrades together as fitting either will require a major rebuild of the Eco so it makes sense to fit them together. That said either upgrade can be used alone to good effect. In part one we looked at ways to stiffen the helicopter, as this is the key to good control. Much can be achieved with the standard frames and a brace but a better solution is to employ carbon frames. These are both stiffer and lighter than the originals. When combined with the aluminium motor mount and a frame brace they produce a very rigid structure on which to build your Eco. An added advantage of the upgraded motor mount is that not only is it rigid but it is also a good conductor of heat and will help to cool a hot brushed motor. [If your brushless motor is getting hot I would look at your set up as it is clearly not running efficiently!]

The Aluminium Head and Washout Mixer Arms If you have upgraded your Eco as discussed above you should now have very accurate control from the ccpm servos to the washout mixer. There will be much less free play in the controls than before but the smaller amounts in the wash out unit and the head will start to show up. If you want the ultimate in control precision the standard washout mixer and head can be upgraded. The mixer is a simple replacement of the standard arms but built in rigid aluminium and dual ball raced on each side. Fitting these parts will give accurate and smooth control inputs from the servos, through the swashplate and then via the mixer to the head. The washout hub should be inspected for play on the main shaft when upgrading the arms as play here will undo the good work of the ball raced mixer arms. The aluminium head must be the ultimate Eco upgrade but will only work to it’s full effect when combined with the other work discussed here. The head is the last part of the chain from servo to rotor disk and the upgrade will ensure that the accuracy added to our control system is translated to the blades themselves. The upgraded head is smooth in operation and rigid and accurate in flight. Note An Eco upgraded as described in Part 11 is a very different beast from our starting point, the standard helicopter built from the kit. We now have a top quality custom built machine that offers superb control response and is capable of outstanding performance.

Getting the Most Out of the Eco 8 Electric Helicopter

I have been flying the Eco 8 since spring of 2001. Since then, it has grown with my skills. I started flying helicopters in September 2000. My first was a piccolo, but I outgrew it when I wanted to fly outside. My friend James Wang recommended the Eco 8 as a next step, and I have been very happy with it. I have seen his Eco 8 flipping and tumbling, and skimming the rotor on the ground inverted. My Eco 8 has looped, rolled, and hovered inverted with ease, and if my skills were better, I am sure it would funnel, and maybe even chaos. Much of the following information I learned from James so, I give credit to him for most of this.

In this article, I will explain how to boost performance and tune the Eco 8 for hard aerobatics. With these modifications, the Eco 8 can become a good trainer for “3D” aerobatics, the nickname given to modern RC helicopter aerobatics that are done inverted, flying backwards, or both. The modifications are put into the following categories: control system/mechanical setup, rotor, power plant (brushless), airframe, and aluminum upgrades. 

The Eco 8 design is 10 years old. It did not have aerobatics in mind initially (a 2 minute hover was miraculous for electrics at the time) but over the years, Ikarus improved it and made upgrade parts for it. The secret to getting the Eco 8 to do aerobatics is in its set-up, motor, and gearing. It is a lightweight machine, and modifications required to get good performance are minimal.  

This section of the site is split into two parts; setup for basic aerobatics, and fine tuning, for heavier aerobatics. The first section will cover the following topics:

• Control System – Servos, mechanical setup, Bell-Hiller mixer mod
• Basic transmitter setup
• Rotor – Blade choice
• Power – Motor and batteries

The advanced section (under construction) will cover tips on getting smoother flight and will cover:

• Advanced Transmitter Setup
• Flybar upgrades
• Thrust bearings
• 140 degree CCPM

Enjoy!

-Erez

Power plant choice for your 3D setup

Power Plant Batteries

Power Plant Brushless motors are really the way to go if you are looking for top performance and longer flight times. They require zero maintenance and have infinite life if not abused. There are 3 levels of quality in the world of brushless motors. Each level up will produce more flight time, or power, sometimes both. Size is another important factor when considering which motor to get. Smaller motors tend to require higher KV ratings. With a 1/8 inch motor shaft, up to 3000 rpm/volt is fine, and 2400 rpm/volt or less for the 5 millimeter shaft motors. On the low end, we have Mega, Jeti, Astroflight, and others. These tend to run at about 75%-80% efficiency. The Mega are a bit better than the Jeti, because they have better cooling. The 22/20/3 will get you started in entry-level aerobatics. The 22/30/3 (Jeti or Mega) is larger and should produce about 1600 RPM for about 6.5 minutes on 10 2400’s. I suggest the Jeti 40-3P ESC for these motors. In the middle range we have Hacker motors, Plettenburg, Kontronik and others. These motors tend to be different in construction from the low end ones. Hacker uses a 2-pole low inductance design that tends to have peak performance at high current draw. Plettenburgs tend to have high efficiency all around maybe due to their integrated fans (not sure). According to their site. About 90% is the norm. The B50-18S (KV of 2006 RPM/Volt) is what I use. It provides the perfect balance of power and duration for me. About 1800 RPM for 7.5 min is normal. At this current drain, there is a noticeable difference between the first and second charges (of the battery pack) of the day. I use 10 2400 NiCd cells. Another good choice is the B50-13L or the B50-11L. The 11L may burn out a 40 Amp ESC though so watch out, it is hot! At the high end there are motors like Lehner, Bittner, and Actro. As of this writing there have not been many reports on how these motors perform. Suzanne from the Ikarus bulletin board has claimed 19 minutes with a Bittner on a 10x3300 mAh pack. As reports come in, this page will be updated, so stay tuned.

Batteries If buying new batteries the best are Lithium Polymer cells. However they have not been seasoned and are in early stages of trials. Thunder power brand and Etech have both powered Eco 8’s with great results. Only problems are that you must a series/parallel pack, they are expensive, and you need a capable charger. Next best are the GP 3300 mAh nickel metal hydride cells. These are available in the US for $5.5 per cell. A pack of 10 cells is recommended for basic aerobatics and 12 cells for advanced. And, if you are really still a fan of nickel cadmium cells there is the 2600 mAh cell made by Sanyo. I am still running my 10x2400 packs and they are just fine, as 7.5 minutes of flight is acceptable. This page will hopefully follow technological improvements. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll be flying fuel cell powered Eco’s!

The rotor

“With enough power anything can be made to fly.”  This quote is even true for an inverted Eco 8.  I’ve seen the Eco 8 fly inverted on 10 cells with the stock rotor blades.  I’ve also seen it do this on 8 cells with symmetric blades.  Rotor blades are the “soul” of the helicopter.  The stock blades are of low quality but will get the job done.  Just don’t expect too much of them in a dive or inverted, they tend to flutter.  At moderate speed they cause a “pitch-up” of the helicopter.  Autorotation with them is asking for trouble.

For 3D flight, symmetric blades are the way to go because they perform the same at positive and negative angles.  I have never tried the blades made by Ikarus, but have not heard too much about them.  The carbon MS-Composite blades are a very good choice, but they are light.  Therefore, you will get high cyclic rates with them.  On the down side, they are difficult to auto with, and are still susceptible to cause some “pitch-up” at high speed, but that can be overcome with your thumb. 

The best blades, in my opinion, are the BBT (Big Boy’s Toys) blades.  These carbon blades are heavier (80 grams each) than the MS, but are harder to find in the US (midlands UK).  They will auto great, and will not cause pitch up except in a dive, and even then it’s slight.  To further reduce pitch up you can increase RPM and/or reduce slop in the control system.  With the BBT blades the Eco 8 flies very smoothly, but you must use large servo arms with the Bell-Hiller Mod to get good performance, as the extra weight will reduce your roll rate. 

Control System for 3D setup

The Eco 8 is not special in its setup, so this setup philosophy can generally be applied to any CCPM helicopter. The mechanical mixer will not be discussed in this section, as it is not practical for aerobatics. It is intended for hovering and forward flight, and will limit one’s ability to advance flying skills. In some situations mechanical mixers are better, but not in the case of the Eco 8.

There are two basic requirements of the control system for getting aerobatic performance out of the Eco 8. They are a large collective travel of at least ±10° of collective travel and a sufficient cyclic authority for adequate roll and pitch rates. Typically, 6° of cyclic blade pitch with 50g blades should be adequate. Also, control interactions and binding in the control system must be avoided at extreme cyclic and collective settings! Additionally, the control system should be as symmetric as possible, and links should be perpendicular at zero pitch.

This topic has been divided into two parts, basic and advanced. The basic section will cover:

• Servo Setup
• Mechanical Setup
• Bell Hiller Mixer Mod

The advanced section will cover:

• Advanced Transmitter Setup
• Special Section – Useful Extra Mixes
• The Flybar…Bearings?

Long servo arms

James and I use Hitec HS-85BB servos for swashplate control, and in my opinion, the stock arms are just not long enough. While using longer arms is not essential, it is very helpful because it allows more linear controls at extreme control inputs. Large arms can be found at www.towerhobbies.com, item LXD670, Dubro Servo Arms Long Hitec/Hobbico (for the HS-85). Only disadvantages are that the gears will break in a crash more easily, and there is a bit more slop, but it is worth it as it eliminates control interactions at the extremities.

Having large arms helps by preventing some of the interactions between the controls. With small arms and high rates on your radio, you will notice that at full collective the elevator servo does have enough travel to affect the correct input and you will see the swashplate move vertically (interaction between cyclic and collective). This is due to the fact that the end of the servo arm travels in an arc rather than a straight line, and there is not enough travel left for both inputs, so they get mixed into each other. With larger arms this situation is greatly alleviated, because the radius of the arc is larger, so there is more vertical movement for a given servo rotation. It’s too bad there are not linear servos available at this size. WES-Technic makes some 3.0g servos that work well in very small helicopters. Oh well.

If using the stock arms, use the outermost hole. My large arms have a radius of 18 millimeters from the center of the screw, to the hole, while the stock ones are 12 mm. Having this large radius allows rates to be turned down on the transmitter, but that’s for another section.

Next, get the servos centered. Install the servo arm without the screw on each servo. Move the servo by hand to see where its endpoints are. Don’t force them if they do not move freely. Turn on your transmitter and move it a bit to get past the tight spot. Re-install each servo arm so it is perpendicular to the servo case when neutral and that it travels equally in both directions. It will not be perfect, and you will need to use the sub-trim function on your transmitter to get it perfectly centered. Use the transmitter trims for fine-tuning. If it requires more than 5 clicks of trim (subjective) you may as well change the rod lengths from the servos to the swashplate.

Here are some photos of the servos set up for 120 degree CCPM without mounts. The pictures show the servos collective pitch travel range.

GMechanical Setup for your Ikarus ECO8 for 3D

While in its stock form, the mechanical setup is good for hovering and basic forward flight, it is inadequate for aerobatics. This section will show you the tips and tricks of improving the control system of the Eco 8 so that it will become a capable aerobatic performer.

The following topics will be covered in this section:

• “Open the Windows”
• Friction and Binding Reduction
• Control Rod Lengths
• 120° CCPM

The Bell Hiller mixer mod

The Bell-Hiller mixer mod is quite simple and best of all it is free! It increases your available pitch window to +/- 12 degrees and increases direct swashplate input, increasing roll rate and pitch rate. It can be accomplished as follows:

1. Remove Bell-Hiller mixer arm, and disconnect attached control rod.
2. Drill a new hole for it 3 mm from the tip of the grip. Tap it for a 2mm screw if necessary.
3. Replace mixer arm, but turn it as shown in the picture. Be sure it looks exactly like it does in the photo! Keep tightening the screw ¼ turn until you can feel the friction in the arm, and then loosen it back out a ¼ turn.
4. Replace connecting rods. The long end of the arm now connects to the flybar, and the short end connects to the swashplate.

This mod increases the amount of direct input from the swashplate at the expense of some stability input from the flybar. It does this by switching the ratio, which is equal to the ratio of the distances from the pivot point to the ball joints. With a high RPM and heavy blades, this produces a stable and maneuverable helicopter with almost no pitch up tendency in forward flight, a must for smooth and aggressive aerobatics.

RADD'S SCHOOL OF ROTARY FLIGHT?

A SCHOOL FOR REMOTE CONTROL HELICOPTERS?

That's a little silly and big headed isn't it?.. I mean hey, we are talking about Toy Helicopters here aren't we...Who is Radd and why would he think he's qualified to have a School of Flight?

You can't be serious...

The answer to that question is absolutely,.. positively.... NO!.. I am very seldom serious. Just ask anyone that knows me...I love to kid around, have fun and tear it up with the best of them. I have a blast with my life (thank you Lord) and helicopters are a big part of that..

Radd??

Who am I and what makes me think I should have a school named after me?

First of all Radd is a nickname given to me by my step children. They already had a “Dadd”..and I had no desire to take that away or fill his shoes..

Secondly The flight school or it's name wasn't actually my idea. The idea for the school belonged to Bert (aka _Q_ on the Ikarus BBS) and the Ikarus BBS chose and voted on the name it was to be called. I must admit that Radd's sounds much better than “STEP DAD'S SCHOOL FOR FLIGHT FOOLS'...Don't you?

Why am I qualified to teach the flying lessons?.. To put it simply...and honestly...I'm not! I'm not qualified for anything at all...It would be ridiculous to pretend anything like that. So.... Mr. I can't tell a lie....Why would anyone listen to anything I would have to say then?....For three reasons....The first reason is ...because I care about the frustration of new helicopter pilots. I love helicopters. It was very difficult and frustrating for me to learn. After I did learn to fly helicopters I saw very clearly that they are not hard to fly.. They simply demand a lot of respect...Once that little jewel of wisdom lit up in my head everything about flying helicopters changed...You will see for yourself that respect is the key...And as strangely as it sounds I'm not talking about respect for safety or the respect for the engineering aspect of helicopter flight..It's simple, straight forward and honest..I could teach a blind man to see this...”huh?”..what did he say..?

The second reason why anyone should listen to me is ...because I am right... You can argue with the wind or curse gravity but that won't change simple common sense. That's all it is..

One of my students once heard a “guru flyer” criticize my techniques and he answered in typical common sense with a bit of wisdom and said...”He either can't do what you ask or refuses to backup and do it right!”..

And Third reason is...I can teach you to fly Helicopters without crashing!!...Believe it!!

Comments are welcome to Radd

PRE-FLIGHT SET-UPS,WARNINGS, AND SALUTATIONS....

For the next 2 and half days you will need to make a promise to yourself to be as disciplined as you remember that mean old playground teacher was. Remember how she use to jerk you off the monkey bars for hanging upside down with one foot? How she would slap you on the back of the head for throwing rocks towards the girls?..Oh Yeah....You were the reckless one..Weren't You?...Well... You won't have a baby sitter or a school teacher to watch if your being reckless or see if your cheating..It's up to you. I am going to ask you to do things that will seem stupid, childish, and a huge waste of time. But, I have my reasons. They work and will save you weeks of frustration. The only thing you have to loose is three days. There will be no broken parts or burnt up motors. You will become better faster. You will hold the tail dead spot on and you will have more hover control than most other newbies after a month or two of hopping..You will not be hop training! Thats just hoppin and hopin. You will be Flight training!.. There is a massive difference. A real flight instructor would not let you slide over sloppy performance or rush ahead. But since you're the only one watching yourself you MUST make the decision to be obedient to the lessons. Do you really want to fly in three days..or..hop and bash around for three weeks? I would also suggest something most other coaches would scoff at here..(Please learn this alone). Unless two of you can make the same commitment to be disciplined then an observer will only distract you and encourage you to “GO FOR IT”..

We will not be lifting off for at least three days so the chance of you being injured calling 911 and needing an ambulance is slim. Still, safety is safe so you may want to put the hospital number on speed dial just incase..(just kidding)...

Rest assured!..If I were there right now I'd slap you on the back or your head just to get your attention...Don't Be Reckless...(SWOP..POW!..)

This first lesson is all depending on that your building the helicopter has been done correctly. That the helicopter is balanced and somewhat trimmed with the mechanics in neutral..By this I mean your radio and servos and linkages etc are set to factory. Your blades should be balanced and flypaddles equal and level. You can't trim a helicopter unless it is in the air but as we spin up you will be able to see quit a few things that may need to be done. I will repeat many times that in this period your are mearly getting acquainted with your machine so checking and re-checking and freaking out on the mechanics will hopefully take care of them selves.Especially if the helicopter is wobbling like a Hula Dancer or jerking like it's having a seizer.

These lessons should be done consecutively, hopefully three days in a row. It will be more to your benefit to have at least three batteries on full charge per session. But you will be stopping quite often to think and rest so If you don't have three batteries don't back out now. Three batteries usually is my limit on the first day of lessons do to the intensity of the concentration level and nerves but feel free to heat your motor up like the kitchen stove if you prefer.. I do and would advise you to keep a can of motor cleaner handy....

You must get into a step by step start up mode. This is very very important. Always go through the same procedures when starting up your helicopter.. Such as.

1. Make sure the switch is off on your Helicopter.
2. Load battery , do not connect wires.
3. Tug the tips on the Main blades to center them and to aid them in spinning up.
4. Turn on the Transmitter.
5. Set throttle hold or Throttle Lock on your TX.
6. Double check that the switch on heli is off .
7. Plug up Battery.
8. Double check throttle hold switch on TX.
9. Switch on Helicopter.
10. Wait for Gyro to initialize.
11. Rotate and test Cyclic controls.
12. Set your tail. ( flick the rudder several times back and forth until the tail blades are straight up and down. This helps set the gyro for flight.)

These twelve steps can save you many disappointments, trips to bank, parts store and even the emergency room as my friend Malcolm can attest to. (Tehehe..) Once you have made them your first habits they can be accomplished in the blink of an eye. (did I mention they will save you many unnecessary and embarrassing problems at the field?)

Now Lets set up your flying field, airport and home for the next three days..

On a (smooth hard) floor in a space 15 to 20 foot square and clean mark out a chalked box one foot square (chalk please..no tape or anything the helicopter skid can catch on).. This is your whole sky.. I know! It doesn't seem very large does it? Trust me here! At the end of three days it will feel like a football field. Now, many Heli pilots are going to slam the crap out of this but I don't care and neither do the folks that I trained . I'm very certain my flyers would jump in front of me like the president's guard and take the bullets for me. And, as cocky as this sounds if you discipline yourself you will defend this technique after your chopper has run full throttle across the runway as well. TRUST ME THIS WORKS!. The funny thing here and my last statement on the matter are this.. I have had “old Heli flyers” attack this first step only to feel in my bones the reason they did was because they could not do it! Strangely enough it was a student that pointed this out to Me..Now ask yourself a question. If they can't do it and you will be able, what does that tell you? You will have much more discipline and control ....Whooo that's a real step out. Huh?

Ok...one more Bomb shell!... I am torn here about what I am going to ask you to do. And the reason is because I don't know your reflexes, past history of RC of just how responsible you are going to be...But here goes??....TAKE THE TRAINING GEAR OFF!! (Oh crap!)...what did I just say? That's right. For the first few days I don't let my students practice with gear. Why you ask?... Glup!..Well, first of all I am with them and I keep things very slow and safe. I keep the first spinups at low rotor speeds and shut them down often to talk and reset and rest. At low speeds training gear are like attaching rotorblades to the floor. They lack the sensitivity I am trying to reveal to the student. And most of all they promote carelessness and sloppiness. So what am I to ask you to do? Leave the training gear on or take it off? Only you know the answers to these questions....Do you know what you will do in a panic? Have you held a transmitter before? Can you truly take it slow? Can you be responsible. What are your abilities? If you are very certain you can take it slow not even attempting to rush the levels. I believe you'll be fine. However, if you have never held a radio in your hands before I would tell you to put some very light and small training gear on. Perhaps it would benefit you to go through the lesson of the first couple days twice...But Your going to be Pilot...so..”Airman”...this is not the time to be a Big Fat Baby!...If you have handled a radio before then buck up the courage and let's go!!!

Remember, since we are only getting aquatinted and we are taking off the gear you must go SLOWLY!..You have no baby sitter .You must get focused . You must not push ahead.. If you don't stop when I suggest it, you have Failed! You have Cheated! And, you have just Crashed!..Crashed is a term I use when my students have lost control ,... not when they have actually hit the dirt, done the dead chicken dance and sprayed parts all over cars in the parking lot. You must make this term part of your responsibility...If you leave the box with both skids, you have CRASHED. You must spin down, walk over and line your heli back in place by hand. You don't have a Babysitter! I'm not there to bash you on the back of your head and tell you that your cheating. But a smashed and twisted ,broken helicopter will!! And I will be angry.Even though I'm not there..My spirit will haunt you until the Mailman brings the replacements. BoooooHaaaaaa!!

You must understand how your radio works first and where to find what without looking. When the Helicopter is in the air and your looking like Helen Keller, blindly feeling all over for the controls you dont have time to guess.. But you will have plenty to pick up the mess....After all You wouldn't want a spoonful of spinach when your digging in for banana pudding now would you?. So, we must get aquatinted with the radio. Grabbing the throttle instead of the aileron is not a good thing. Not wanting to loose my life I always run through the controls with a student before he has a chance to freak me out. With TX on throttle hold, the motor unplugged and the power on we can test understanding of it .Which helps our confidence and reassures each other. (Gee...that's smart huh?)

As for the controls, heres something very cool and easy. I call it (Radd's TX Silly Stick and Clock Control Newbie Number System...or...RTXSSACCNNS.. for short) ..Each gimbals or Control stick will be represented by the hands of the clock and separated with the word “and”. Mid stick is referred to as “0”. Such as 4 and 10. Depending on which continent you live on your either in mode 1 or 2. In America we are in mode 2 which is throttle and rudder on the left. Aileron and pitch is on the right. Here is Radd's numbers...as a clock.. stick straight up is 12 o'clock. Straight down is 6 o'clock. Full left is 9 and full right is 3..Diagonal numbers ( 1,2,4,5,7, 8,10, 11 ) are diagonal movements of the sticks..Duh?... Sticks in the mid position or neutral spot are referred to as “0” An example would be if you were in forward fight making a right aileron turn movement the sticks might be around “ 0 and 3 ” or half stick on the throttle and right stick aileron..Of course this depends upon your set up. Where the throttle amount is crucial, the throttle amount will be referred to as.. zero stick , quarter stick ,half stick and full stick and written separately. **** Here's a cool thing to put in your tips box for the future and why we will be using this...When the pros think and discuss orientation or show each other tricks, they refer the helicopter in stick movements...If your making a right turn they could show you how they move the sticks without the heli being in the air.. (ding!) Another cool tip is if your going into an orientation with certain stick movements then the opposite stick movements will in most cases pull you back out.. Once you begin to think this way you can visualize flight orientation, tricks and stick movements in your mind first. And with the number system we can discuss orientations accurately as we talk to each other. But the main reason I came up with this simple system is that my students can quickly and calmly make adjustments as I call them out while they are mid air. The commands are quick and brief...( “0 and 4” ) ..( “0 and 3” )....Wow! look at the future!! a 3D backflip in idle up ....”(12 and 6)”..then “(6 and 12)” then “( 0 and 0 ) “

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BATTERY #ONE

This battery is called the “Spin UP”

Place your heli in the center of the box and go through the start up procedure. This is your whole sky and any time both skids leave the box you have crashed. (the DEAD ZONE)

Assuming that your heli is set up on the average with stock motors and settings, the normal helicopter hovers around half stick. We will stay well below that today. My trainers start to grind (electric motor hum noise) around quarter stick...You should get used to this sound. I don't believe it damages the motor but for these first lessons you will want the head to spin up very slowly. By listening for the “grind” you can begin the spin up very very slowly. If you have tugged on the blades and set them center you shouldn't have much wobble and the heli should start to spin up nicely just past quarter stick. Let the blades spin up by their own inertia adding tiny amounts of throttle. You should not be rotating the blades fast enough to see any tail movement yet...If you do then gently back off on the throttle...You should also not hear sudden motor power or whistle coming from the blades at any time..This means you are not adding smooth throttle..Again, All we are doing here is getting aquatinted with the controls.. Now, gently spin down...Yeah I know you didn't do anything cool yet!...Come on Man!..Just follow directions OK!.. “That's me yelling at my student!” Are you listening? “AIRMAN”??

Spin back up gently again and then spin down a couple times..You are getting use to the sensitivity of the throttle stick. When you are flying later on it will feel as if you only have to breathe on the control sticks and the helicopter will react. As you practice this you will begin to feel the tail wanting to move to the right. (you probably have been too eager and too heavy on the throttle and it's swung anyway...you bad bad person you!)

If you did listen to me (yeah sure..Ah huh!) and gently spun up your new helicopter slowly and not had the tail move on you then lets get ready and prepare for it. The tail blades move about 4 times as fast as the main blades and as the head speed increases the tail tends to want to move right..**** If you initialized your gyro right and spin up slowly a Heading Hold gyro shouldn't have any trouble holding tail in one place as you spin up..That said and now that you know the sensitivity of the throttle stick focus and think about the tail...As you spin up this time add a tiny more amount of throttle than before and you will feel the tail move. But this time we will give some rudder stick input to counter it.. your rudder stick at spin up should be heading for “2 or 3 o'clock”.

Spin up gently again and hold the tail a couple times but watch that it you are still not anywhere near half stick or even getting the heli light on the skids!!! You don't want to crash before your even off the first battery... (and make me look stupid!)

At spin up it is very easy to remember that a helicopter wants the tail to move right and the helicopter itself to drift left...**** (Tail Left, Helicopter Right )!!...burn it in your memory..

Are you being patient? Does this seem unnecessarily slow? Can you follow the plan? Do you want to fly.? Be patient and things will come much faster than you can imagine...

Spin up Hold the tail straight. Spin down..

Spin up Hold the tail straight. Spin down..

You should have quite a bit of the first battery left...As of now you should have been concentrating on three things. The first being throttle..The second being the tail and the third being the box on the floor.. You must remain in the box..As we add a little more throttle and spin up faster the Heli will try to lean to the left. Just as we added rudder input, now we will add right cyclic to hold the helicopter from tipping over and to hold it in one place. Ask yourself . Where is your throttle? Do you feel a little more comfortable adding throttle and can you do it smoothly enough that nothing sudden happens?

There are a few places most heli pilots watch as their Helicopters are “Live”. Some guys watch the nose. Some watch the skids. Some watch the rotor disk, tail or body and some watch the mast.. Well, lets think about that for a second.. On the spin up if I watch the nose and it's pointing away from me then my tail controls seem ether backward or minute. If you watch the skids (Most popular) then you are playing catch up because with everything that's happening ..the last thing to move are the skids...If I watch the tail it's backwards to the TX controls. Watching the tail, about the only thing you'll notice imediately is nose up and down and tilting sideways and this is way too slow..That leaves the rotor disk and mast. At this point in your training the huge spinning rotor disk is way too intimidating and also way to late to get you out of trouble..The mast is the pumbob of a helicopter and which ever way it moves or tilts is an indicator of which way the chopper IS going to move...Notice how I capitalized IS?...The mast moves first in realtionship to the controls on your radio. It's movements can be noticed in very slight changes. Before any other part of the heli can react the mast has to move first. In flight or Hover the mast will show you the intent of the heli before it ever happens. Which ever way it tilts that is the way the machine is going to go. By watching the mast you can actually be ahead of the helicopter in a hover, correct it and think ahead before the chopper has even moved..Cool Huh?

So as we spin up the helicopter somewhere under half throttle and move your aleron sticks you should watch the tilt of the swash..If you're well under half stick you can really work the stick hard and tilt the swash quite severly to get a feel for the relationship or sensitivity of the radio to the helicopter and how it will react. STAY WAY UNDER HALF STICK!

As I said earlier , the tail will want to swing right and the heli will want to drift left...So be ready on the sticks. Your sticks will be heading for “( 3 and 3 )”...Spin up and feel the inertia and the tendency of both the movements...Hold the tail and be ready on the right stick to keep the heli level. Hold it steady for only a second or two and then spin down...Come On!!..Don't push...Take a breath and think about how small the stick movements actually were..

For the rest of the battery run through the spin up and spin downs...You'll start to know your radio and your control over the machine.. If your not in control...the Helicopter is!..

Hold the tail dead on 6 oclock and keep the heli in the box...

HOLD THE TAIL...YOU BIG BABY!.. HOLD THE TAIL !!!.... (and call me SIR! “When you start to whine!)...”(I cant hold it ....SIR!) the student says!” ... “ STOP whining Soldier!!”...I SAID!...HOLD IT!

WATCH THE MAST!...IT'S TILTING!.....KEEP THE HELI LEVEL!....RIGHT STICK 10 o'clock! HOLD THE TAIL!....WATCH THE MAST!!! CONCENTRATE!!! YOU BIG BABY!!*** I SAID***...HOLD THE TAIL IN ONE PLACE!!!... NOW YOUR GOING OUT OF THE BOX!!...WATCH THE THROTTLE ...DON'T INCREASE IT!!

Ok! At Ease!!!....spin down and Breath deep!

Alright...How did it go? Did you feel me yelling at you like a drill sargent? All joking aside did you cheat? Did you take it past the safety level? Did you spin up and down as often as I told you? You still have a alot of batteries yet to go...can you follow the plan? I hope so because we're becoming friends...Each time you were able to spin down you are going to focus much harder next time..The safety factor goes up and the cost of repairs goes down..Your control will become razor sharp and your sticks will begin to feel totally natural in your hands.....You are getting aquainted with your heli...I'd say bird, but that sounds funny.....I just wish I was there to SCREAM AT YOU!..that's fun to!...

As simple as it sounds you must also have a procedure for when changing battery packs..

1. Always hit throttle hold before walking over the heli after flying.
2. Always hit the off switch before carring the heli...
3. Always dissconnect the battery before shutting off the transmitter. (very important habit)..

Install a new battery and then go through the start up porcedures..

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SECOND BATTERY

is called “ SAME AS THE FIRST!”

Would you let a student of full size helicopters advance too fast?..”Come On Yourself.” This is a Man killing, Cat chasing , tear everything up machine...

You're learning! Not Flying!..You're getting aquatinted and your not doing the BUNNY HOP all over the front yard. Hoppity Hopping like the big Bunny Rabbit and probably smashing and tearing itself to pieces in the dead Chicken Dance...

On the second Battery you will be tempted to increase the throttle and that's Ok....as long as it's hardly noticeable...and smooth..BUT, keep it on the ground!... If you can't restrain yourself you're not cheating me ---- your cheating time! If you hurry you'll only slow yourself down...The Hobby is littered with the carcasses of dead helicopters in the graveyards of attics and basements all over the world.... On the second battery.....HOLD THE TAIL, STAY IN THE BOX, WATCH THE MAST. PUNISH YOUSELF!!..QUESTION YOURSELF. STOP AND THINK. STOP AND REST.. Stop and breath, at least every one or two minutes...spin down and get refocused...

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BATTERY #3...

The third battery is called “Tilt the Swash”....

Spin the heli up but...way way under 50%. What we are going to do on this battery is get the rotor spinning and get use to the cyclic controls..We are going to hit the sticks pretty hard so keep the head speed way down so not to dump over the heli....You must not be anywhere near lift off speed or half stick but fast enough that in low head speed you don't wobble the stuffing out of the chopper, throw it off balance and do a boom strike...Concentration ...WhooooHoo...

After it's spun up take the aileron stick slowly to 3 o'clock and then back to zero. Then move the cyclic to the left or 9 o'clock...If your calm and feeling this is a good safe head speed stay there a little and move the controls back and forth from 3 to 9 and back again...Do Not move the sticks Fore and Aft. Not yet!.. Once you are comfortable and in control with the right and left cyclic spin down and think about how the sticks felt and how proportional they were to the Helicopter.

After resting a moment spin back up and increase your head speed a little. This time we are going to watch the mast and what I call the “Plate” which is the spinning fly bar and paddles (Don't know why I named it that? Guess I was hungry?)...It takes on a silver color as it gets up to speed. But mostly this time around I want you to watch the mast and the linkages and how they move and tilt. Again since your not at lift off RPM you should be quite safe. While all this is going on you've almost forgotten about the tail (have you?)...Are you holding it? Give yourself a minute or two feeling the cyclic and it's relationship to the radio...Watch the mast and the Plate..Remember. If you not in control ...The Helicopter is! After watching the mast take sometime to watch the plate as it tilts as well...You should have a couple minutes of battery left and it may be a good time to rest..

Again picture in your mind how much stick and how much control you had with the machine....If your reading this completely through before try it I'm sure you can't imagine what is exciting about any of this. However I'm sure you'll have the tingles when you give it a go in real time...You may want to read each plan for the separate batteries again and each time before you burn the whole pack..

After resting a moment we will spin back up and test the pitch cyclic or the fore and aft controls.. Spin it back up and once again hold the tail and feel the right and left cyclic for a moment and then very gently give it forward control...Very gently does it! Visually the movement is harder to see and the heli is a little more unstable on the skids fore and aft so take it easy. Also we don't want to bang the tail hard on the floor...Later we will be moving the cyclic in a circle but for the moment practice a little on the right and left, fore and aft control..Hold the tail and keep the heli in the box...If you feel comfortable take up the head speed to your safety level.

1. Hold the tail.
2. Watch the Mast and the Plate.
3. Stop and ask yourself the usual questions...

Oh My!!!...Battery 4 coming up!! (second day?)

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Battery 4

Throttle up!....not idle up ....THROTTLE UP!...

With this Battery we are going to do the same control movements but we are going to increase the head speed..Yep! that's right, the same thing...but with higher head speed you should hear that Drill Sargent screaming in your head...KEEP THE SKIDS FLAT ON THE DECK...SOLDIER!!....If they lift off, especially the right one, back off on the throttle and let it settle..Figure out how much aileron stick you need to hold it on the floor with the plate tilted and speed up again...KEEP IT ON THE FLOOR ...WATCH THE BOX. .KEEP THE TAIL...KEEP IT IN THE BOX...THE BOX...THE BOX...THE BOX..at ease soldier......Spin down and catch your breath....your going back up to speed when your blood pressure gets out of the stroke range....

The controls should becoming much more sensitive at a higher head speed the tail should be finding it's home as well.. You're hopefully finding your rudder thumb relaxing a lot as it gets head speed..The reason for this is because the ratio of head speed to tail speed is balancing itself and the gyro is waking up! However since the head speed is beginning to scream and the controls are more sensitive this is definitely no time to relax....I'm tingling just thinking about...”IT'S ALIVE..'”

If the helicopter drifts out of the box remember your punishment...Walk over and drag it back into place..It's acceptable for one skid to peep out of the box but when the second skid crosses the line it's punishment time...Come on... you made the deal!!!

As you practice spinning up and down with fairly strong head speed you will be building up your skill and coordination at hold the tail and keeping the skids flat..You'll be working on keeping the plate as flat as possible but giving it just enough aileron to hold it on the floor.. But the main task at this point should be keeping it in the box....So...Soldier..your challenge is hold that baby in the box...the box boss...The box..If you see the skids rocking or lifting off then back off on the throttle. Stay with it and stay spinning a little longer than you were before...Stay on it for about three minutes at a time...If you would like to practice spinning up and spinning down several times towards the end of the battery you will greatly benefit from this but most people want to ride the wild tiger till the battery is dead... Take it easy this is only your 4^th battery and you're not quite ready to go into a dog fight just yet..Slow down a bit and think of you wallet..relax and think about what the helicopter has been doing and what you have been doing to counter act ...IF YOU'Re NOT IN CONTROL THE HELICOPTER IS!......SOLDIER!!

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5th Battery

This battery is called “Tilt the Swash”....

Hey ? I thought we already did that?....

Yes, We've already did that ! But I'm just mean and nasty and want you to do it again! Actually we need the practice cause the 6^th battery is gona kick your little hiney.....On the 5^th battery we don't want to spin up and down but concentrate on two things for longer blocks of time....(You should have been doing short spin ups before??...You lousy cheater!)..

Ok, So. Spin up to where your skids feel light but not bouncing on the ground...hold the tail, keep the skids on the ground and stay in the box. Bring the throttle back if your heli wants to lift off. At this speed I want you to very very carefully play with the plate and tilt the swash right and left and VERY gently fore and aft.. COME ON DUDE!...I SAID GENTLY! ...stay in control and stay on the ground..STAY IN THE BOX!....If the tail swings, Punish Yourself.. DON'T CHEAT!!

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6th Battery

This battery is called “PUT THE TRAINING GEAR ON!”

Oh, My, Goodness!!....Ah, Yeah!!!...Put them on because your gonna need them...Whooo Hoooo!!

I can see your eyes now!!....”Oh Man, this is what I have been waiting for!”..Well, not quite. But close! And it's gonna be really cool!...With the extra weight of the training gear it's going to change the feel of the Heli again so we're going to have to get aquainted with the machine again..”BOO, Hissssssss!”..Come on ya whiner.. You're getting close to flying ....so quit whimpering...The fun is about to get with it!!

Since the Helicopter is going to be heavier and the controls will be sluggish due to that weight..Guess what?...Yeah, We have to add more power.. More Power, Higher head speed and more adreniline. You're gonna feel and hear the power now ...Yeah Baby!..

Hey!...Don't forget!..stay on the ground!... Here's what we are going to do..Add more power. Get really light on the gear. Hold the Tail. Turn the tail, Rotate the Plate!...

Remember! If your not in control the heli is! So DANG,DARN,FREAKIN, FRAKIN...be focused! There is no recovery for a newbie, only crashing..You must stay in control! You must not cheat and you must punish your self for sloppiness....Oh, Man....Martha Look out!...

Spin that baby up and get it light on the skids....SWEET MOTHER OF TROY!...be ready, be ahead of the mast!. Come on now ? Get it light and STAY IN THE BOX......CONTROL, CONTROL CONTROL..

Seriously, stay in the box...we've got some really cool things coming up and your gonna love them...But remember to use your head..Stop and think..Stop often and feel what's going on..Don't power on and lift off yet...Come on Please? Whata Ya Say? ..Don't blow it now!!..

Here's what we're going to do..We are going to hold the tail at 6 o'clock, as the helicopter skims light on the gear and while still inside the box we want to turn the tail ever so gently and smoothly to the left...around 8 O'clock..The helicopter should be diagonal slightly and the whole thing should be pointing to the right. Do not turn the heli more than 8 o'clock. You can easily become disorientated. Concentrate and slowly bring it back to 6 o'clock again..Then gently slide the tail back to 8 o'clock and back to center again...The difficulty here is holding the heli in the box while moving the tail sideways...This is truly much easier said than done..After six or seven times of taking it to 8 o'clock you may want to rest and let your motor cool down. Next we will focus on sliding the tail to the opposite side to around 4 o'clock. A rule that we will be following well through Forward flight is to practice your weaknesses...”Fall in love with your weaknesses and your strengths will reward you”. In other words we will be practicing rights sides and left sides equally.

At this time you will definitely want to spin down and rest a moment...Ask the same old questions..How did the controls feel? Could you move smoothly ? Were you totally in control or was the helicopter. Next we will rotate the swash after spin up. As you begin your spin up and are holding the tail don't quite get it that light yet and move the swash and mast in a gentle circle. You should see the frame of the helicopter softly look as though it bending in circular motions. You should be able to see the plate move as the saucer is slowly tilting and turning. On the last of the charge to the 6^th battery you should finish it by spinning it out in the box tilting the swash and moving the tail gently....You've come along way ...But from here it only gets better...DID YOU CHEAT? There's still time to be good...Becareful. Be honest. Be focused! We are about to have some real fun so hang on!

Has your control of the helicopter increased? Do you feel anymore confident? Can you remain calm as the blades are spinning up? At the end of second day and as the 7 ^th battery begins are you the same nervous heli student you were when you started? If you were patient you have indeed come a long long way.

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Here comes the 7th Battery

This battery is called the “THE SCOOTER”

Why the scooter? Cause that's what I call my son and I just wanted to name it after him. Plus we are going to move the chopper around the floor a little too..BUT! We are going to stay on the floor..Make no mistake we are not ready to fly yet but this going to be exciting enough...nothing for the faint hearted or elderly...(sounds like me?) and if by now you haven't been into the adrenaline cookie jar something's wrong...maybe you should take up bull fighting or something..

This time we are going to get up to maximum ground power on the 7^th battery. Just as much throttle as it takes to scoot the heli forward..A couple feet only, and don't try to slide it backward yet because that takes a lot more power and may require a short hop...And I hate hopping so for the first couple times please spin down after scooting forward and drag the heli back into the box..Keep the tail straight and slide it forward but make sure you feel under control.

Spin it up and let the blades do the work..Slowly very slowly inch it forward..Then walk over and slide it back by hand. Do this several times and try hard not to let the helicopter slide side ways.It will want to move to its left..So you must counter with right stick...As difficult as it sound it is very possible to maintain the amount of right aileron to keep the skids down and still move forward. Hold the tail and again slide it back by hand.

After a few slides forward you may want to relax and get your wits about you for a moment. Then we will next slide forward and to the left a couple feet. .Holding the tail raise the throttle up very slightly and very gently begin to slide the helicopter to your right. Watch the left skid and keep it as low on the floor as possible. Maintain power and slide the machine to the right. Again don't try to slide the copter towards the rear unless the Helicopter with slight rear pitch and naturally wants to move that way.

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Battery 8 and 9 are both “Your Batteries”

You've earned a little R & R If you've done your best not to cheat and stayed in the box when I ask you to (Ha!).....If you feel under control and relaxed and feel you can remain still on the floor for two more batteries before trying anything crazy then these two batteries are all yours...Feel free to buzz around on the floor how you like and in what direction you choose. Tilt the swash, turn the tail, slide around in your favorite direction. Make sure your in control, calm and focused. And enjoy yourself.

On the tenth pack we are going to fly. But take a second and look back at what you have accomplished? Are you still nervous when your helicopter spins up? Is it still the Man killing death trap it once appeared?

By now you should not be afraid of the controls as you add throttle. You now know what to expect as it spins up. You know how much power to apply and how much cyclic to add and how sensitive your control are.. You know what to do to hold the heli in place and how to slide it around...And in these last two batteries your fear factor has dropped even more..Are you still excited? Are you still having fun...Are you ready to fly? Take a deep breath and picture it lifting off very gently and in control....That's what's next

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Battery #10.....

TIME TO FLY!

Here's the real deal!....If I completely left this lesson off I know that you could fly now...I am so confident that even if I dropped dead on the heli pad right now you would be fine. And you could fly..And I'll betcha you feel the same. If you have followed the lessons and been honest with your self and not rushed ahead then you are ready and you know it. You can feel it. The beautiful secret that we share and which you now take for granted is that though you've only been at this a few days your not scared anymore. From now on you will look back on the frightened faces of newbies that have been “hopping and hoping” for as long as a month or more and still do not feel the sense of confidence that you do now..Had I not seen that confident stare in the eyes of my flyers many times I could not have the audacity say this is true..But I always see it !.

By now many things about helicopters have changed for you. You understand them much better. Your not afraid of them anymore.You have felt totally in control as well as being very confident in a confined space. Many new flyers with 4 time the experience do not feel the way you do now even in a space the size of a football field. And you have mastered the controls of a helicopter in the space of one square foot!! (Well mastering it maybe pushing it a little?) And, at this moment you're probably feeling one of two things...Your either thinking I've been holding you back or you've accidentally bounced off the ground a couple times and your ready to stay up for a while...

It's about this time that I do you a great favor and ask that you once again to STOP AND THINK!! Stop, think and listen to me for one last Battery Pack. Just one more pack and you can be on your way.

For a brief moment think back on all the steps and battery lessons you practiced up to this point..

1. You spun up and held the tail
2. You held the tail and tilted the swash
3. You increased the Head speed and maintained control
4. You became light on the skids and moved the tail in both directions
5. You held the tail straight and scooted the Heli in the direction of you choice.
6. You learn to spin down and think. ( Most important of all..you disciplined yourself)
7. You stayed within the box..( your sky!)

Here's another way to look at it....(As if you were flying)....

1. You lifted off and held the tail in towards you
2. By tilting the swash you flew to the left and right
3. By increasing the throttle and head speed you learned how sensitive your throttle and collective is. What it takes to climb out or maintain hover...as well as what the tail is going to do with the increase of power.
4. You learned to make the helicopter's tail stay rock solid. By moving the tail to the right and left on the floor you've learned how to control, keep and move the rudder in the air.
5. By scooting the heli in different directions on the floor you've become aquatinted with the cyclic controls and how they will react in the air.
6. You've learned the fine art of when to becareful and when to back off.

So what does all this sound like? Does it sound like you can fly it without any concern.. Well, not exactly but you are miles ahead of the average beginner. There is just a few things you need to know before hitting the throttle flying around the house and making all your neighbors whoot and holler and pat you on the back.

Here weeee go.....and ....one more list of the things to practice.

Batttery #10

1. Take that Flyin Machine OUTSIDE!

2. Burn half a pack outside on the pavement. (that's my advice..You'll feel better and a little more calm if you can use just that small bit of patience before the first lift off...You don't have to scoot it around just get it light on the skids and calm down..In just thirty seconds after windup let your shoulders relax take a deep breath try to relax you hands and fingers...After a minute or two you will be ready to lift off

What is your helicopter going to do?

As soon as your helicopter becomes light on the skids it can only lift off in one of two ways. The first being slowly....If you continue to add very small amounts of throttle until your machine lifts off it will skid and drift on the ground to the left before it becomes airborne..You may even run out of space if you throttle up slowly enough..The second being of course throttling up quickly. If you find that after the helicopter is light on the skids and you punch up the throttle quickly to bring it off the ground you will see the helicopter raise and pitch severely left due to the rotation of the main blades. You must immediately give right aileron to counter act and then back off the aileron to 0 or mid stick again to avoid flying off to your right. So which way is best? Sounds simple to say somewhere in-between. The truth is, after you lift off a hundred times or so You will naturally compensate for the Yaw and Roll even before your fully spun up.. What does that mean? If you know for one hundred percent certainty that the heli is going to pitch or roll to the left on lift off then it makes great sense to be ready on the sticks to counter that movement with right aileron. As you practice lifting off you will notice that as you add throttle It becomes quite natural to add right aileron and tilt the swash to the right at the same time causing a gentle and graceful lift off straight up. At the same time after all my yelling you should already be holding the tail dead on 6 O'clock or I'm going to give up and go back to work for my Uncle Louie at his Hamburger stand and forget I ever knew you...

So....DRIFT LEFT AND COMPINSATE RIGHT...simple huh? Remember..the helicopter will upon lift off ...(DRIFT LEFT ...SO BE READY TO COMPINSATE WITH RIGHT AILERON..)

3. FREAK OUT!! No matter how much we have prepared for this, when your helicopter lifts off for the very first time and you see it....You Will Freak Out!...That Special magic of flight always amazes..And why shouldn't it? That's what We've been working so hard all this time for..As it lifts off And you see those skids rise off the cement you can't help but shocked and filled with excitement.. And being the mean old kill joy it's my job to keep the machine in one piece..So.. Yeah you guessed it!! My rule here is to set it right back down..I know, we all want to say and tell our friends about the first time flying and how it stayed up for ever. But, even if you were in perfect control and calm I still ask my new flyers to set the bird down right away after the first time it becomes airborne...Usually after they do they don't say a single word...They simply stare at me for a second...Then they shrug their shoulders trying not to blow their cool image by screaming and face the heli once more. Why do I ask you to come out of the candy store when your sooooo hungry? Because in this first flight You can actually focus so intently on the machine you can actually forget how close you really are to other objects such as telephone poles, cars, people and even the ground...

4. DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE COPTER!...Strange as it seems after setting it back down after the first time in the air new pilots often want to share the adrenaline. By turning to their friends and screaming....Yeah , screaming!...something like....( #$%^&*) or (@#$%^&*)...But,Keep your focus...Keep your eyes on the machine!

5. SO! NOW YOUR FLYING!! What's going to happen now?..Usually again..Two things continually happen. First being, most new flyers leave the box and start flying and drifting all over the place...But! “you didn't tell me about any flying box?”....Yeah, that's true but It wouldn't have done any good anyway !!. What should I say ?? 6 foot box?... 8 foot box??..Neither.. The best thing to do is set some parameters in your own head as to how far big and wide is “YOUR BOX”.. This is one of the hardest teaching and learning steps.. Most new flyers will tell you and totally believe they were incontrol as the Helicopter tilted and jiggled and danced like a hoola dancer around the parking lot.. But in most cases they are Extremely Turned On! Happy to the point of Hystriahia and lacking all judgement!.What is to be done with students at this point? I have found that there is only two things I have found effective in stopping them. The first being to slug them swiftly in the back of the neck with a lead pipe wrapped in leather, or, Screaming continuely to be reasonable..

Suppose your one of the sane and unusual test pilots that doesn't loose his mind as the rotors go higher and higher....Why would I ask him to set the helicopter back down even if he is in control?...Because this is your last day of training and you are still suppose to be learning... Isn't that right? My logic for asking the unreasonable request is that you stay in control. Remember I have been teaching you to control and not how to recover...You must remain in control. You must not let the helicopter control you! This includes flying as well as scooting on the ground...When the machine lifts off it should be right where you want it to be and to stay right where you tell it to stay....The only way to over come this sloppiness is the beaware of this before it happens...When it comes off the ground..Make it stay put...Make it be obedient...Hover in control...FOCUS!!! Set it down often and think...and re-think once again!...

6. STAY IN YOUR AREA!..use the same control and discipline and punishment as when you were staying in that old chalk box on the floor. You might laugh, but If I let new flyers go they will be wobbling tilting and flying all over the place...Over the cars, missing the trees and scaring the crap out of the guy scattering his French fries and milkshake all over the parking lot.. And .. all the while thinking they were just hovering and not in forward flight...so..ok... OK!...Keep it in a ten foot space...How's that? TEN FOOT SQUARE!!!

7. KEEP IT SHORT

8. KEEP THE TAIL

9. KEEP IT IN YOUR SPACE

10. KEEP IT SAFE.....

11. KEEP IT IN ONE PIECE.. Watch the mast, watch the swash, watch the plate....And watch out for me!!!!

Any feedback is always welcome. Please use the feedback page.

A short version of the FLight Lessons

Take it with you to the field

A short version of these flight lessons is available here. You can print this version and take it with you on the field.

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So you wanted to fly but your stuck in hover

I've been having such a blast flying lately...but, I keep thinking of some of the comments about crashing and all the stuff we've been talking about...I remember when I was very content to just hover my Eco's..I would watch the 3d pilots and think..man theres just no way I will ever do that...Since my new feelings on the joy of crashing I look back and really wished inside that I could have flown out of the parking lot...but just the thought of it getting turned around on me made me stay right where I was....I know that there are tons of people out there just like me...wanting to build scale heli's cause you just cant see yourself hitting full throttle and yanking it back into a stall turn...not to mention 3d???? But I can honestly say now that I can fly my gas heli's and ECO's at full throttle and feel totally in control...If I can.. and I am still amazed because I never even knew Helicopters could even do these kind of maneuvers..so can you...If your worried about the cost of your heli or waiting for parts to rebuild it....dont worry... I've been thinking how to get us all flying without crashing all the time and letting it all hang out ...Anyone interested? If Not...I'll just fly off.....takes allot of nerve just to say YES !! Radd...( the cowardly Lion)

It's two in the morning I hope this comes out alright??

I can't be the only one surprised at Helicopter pilots that don't use simulators and progress faster than those with simulators.This doesn't make much sense to me but it happens all the time..You can spend 4 or five hours a week on the computer and some guy fly's twice a week and progresses much faster? Why? Another strange thing I've seen is a guy that bought a helicopter at clearance sale for $200 and the next week he's flying it all over the place..That confused me to say the least, and.. made me feel less than average .You can give any reason you want..talent, natural ability, blind recklessness? But I think it boils down to just two things...Either they simply believe they can do it, or want to fly helicopters badly, and will fly no matter what it takes.I suppose our personalities reflect clearly in the way we fly.But..If your not currently flying like you thought you would by now don't let it get you down until you've tried a few different ways to break through the walls..And walls are what they are..Fear, Money, Pride,or your wife's ridicule.What ever your wall is it is still based on a fear of some kind..The best motivator at the field is your friends pushing you to the limits they believe your capable of.(not the kind of friends that want to laugh at your stupidity) If they can encourage you to stretch past a wall or a rut, they usually feel just as good as you. But, we can't do that here can we?..Well, We can if we are honest about where we currently are and where we want to go and if we share our progress. We can encourage each other..This board is famous for the way we support each other.. The real problem is that it's not very macho to admit your not Curtis Youngblood and that you may still be in the hover mode? I my case I was quite happy hovering around my yard,work shop, and parking lot.. But...brother when I finally started flying I couldn't believe how much time I wasted..I could have been flying the way they were meant to..banking, stalling, tail whipping..I always wanted to land like I saw the Hueys in Vietnam, coming in hot with their tails practically dragging in the grass.Then lifting off nose down and tail high banking hard and pulling out in a hurry.That's no problem for me now and that doesn't include what I can do in the sky...I am not into 3d yet but you can't do a flip or roll and consider yourself to be into 3d..That's heavy duty stuff and we are suppose to be honest here?? Ok.. with all that out of the way are you ready? I hope you put your name up and your progress will encourage us and you'll help push us all to the level we can be at..

Unfortunately this applies to those who are stuck in the hover mode, if you can't fly (hover) out a whole battery pack (tail in) your not ready for forward flight anyway..sorry, but you can't run if you cant walk..there is not 12 easy steps to forward flight, only three rules and they are so simple that it's gonna make you sick. They are Discipline,Boredom and the third is this:( You'll get there faster if you slow down). If you cheat your only wasting your own time...But If you want to fly your gonna get there faster than you ever imagined and your gonna feel great about yourself and flying..

Your going to do one of two things. You are either going to give up or your going to get better. The speed that you do either is up to you.. When you get bored you will either want to try something new or you just peter out move on to a new hobby..right? well, what if we set out to get bored a little early? Two things will happen.You'll start to relax and if your relaxed long enough you'll get bored and of course if your bored you can't be afraid...
The guys flying and learning without a sim don't have time for toys.....that's how they see sims..a waste of valuable time. They could be really flying, not fakey flying.and ( they believe they can do it so you find them trying)
The guys that get the heli's at a garage sales, clearance sales or as a gift..have no real attachments or fascination about them.They simply treat them as if they are airplanes...Ask one of these fast learners yourself..I'll bet the first thing they'll say is.".well I've flown airplanes for awhile and it really doesn't freak me out." Everyone else will say.." I cant fly helicopters!! ..they are too complicated..they freak me out.."

Finally..Here's how you do it...
A helicopter should want to fly....and a pilot should "only" fly it!??.. sound crazy?....before I do any flying at all I trim the model..(from now on we will call our copters "models"...lets not puff them up anymore..they are just machines..) It's not uncommon for me to waste half a battery pack trimming a model for level flight..The Helicopters job is to fly..the pilots job is simply to push it around..The first time I had a model really trimmed out and the gyro was working as it should I was very surprised to see all I had to do was move the aileron stick a little right and the model moved right and stopped when I let up on the stick!! Then I moved it Left and it moved back again..actually I was shocked!..I thought you had to fight to keep a helicopter in the air..WRONG ...Because if you have to keep the machine in the air you cant really be flying.Your doing two jobs..Get it? The model should be balanced and trimmed...The pilot should only push it around...DING...TAH DAH!!!!! Ok now picture this again...imagine a perfectly balanced machine, hovering only with small corrections.. that leaves you the pilot time to decide where to go!! Gee...Just one stick can move it left, right, forward, backward....cool..huh? and not so complicated...I know what your thinking...My model doesn't fly that well?? Then you need to spend two or three packs trimming or work on your mechanics cause it should....

Second thing you have to do is know what your going to do and how to recover if you get scared. The main reason for helicopter crashes is usually because pilots have combined a combination of moves and loosing the orientation it takes to recover. Combinations are the killers. So If you practice one movement at a time and it's recovery your crashes will become less frequent especially if you know the recovery when your going in.

1. With that in mind here's your first orienation.(The Model should be hovered at least chest high)..If you can hover a pack out tail in then your next orientation should be left side in.The key to the fear wall here is to slowly rotate it to the left side with the rudder stick....until it's side in..(please left so we are all on the same page). Your (recovery) will be rudder back to tail in...If you freak out at full left side in then go 45degs..You MUST....remain in this orientation for an entire battery pack...Until you are capable of staying side in or 45 deg for a whole pack you must recover with rudder until stable again then return to the orientation...You cant move on until you can hover in this posisition for an entire pack..An easy way to relax is to watch the skids..they are a quick reference to see if the model is tilting.Later you'll have to kick this habit but it will help for now.
2. When you can hover left side in for two or three packs or until you are bored..( don't be in a hurry...a week can last a lifetime.) ( remember, you get there faster by slowing down).....Now it's time to rotate to the right side. Your recovery will be rudder back to tail in as before. Don't cheat! this will get you flying trust me.. practice until you can remain stable for two or three packs or until you are bored...but not less than two or three packs.
3. Next you should be ready to move from left side in to right side in after freezing in each position for around ten seconds. You should be confident now of you recovery out moves..Same story again Discipline yourself until you can rotate the model left side in to right side in ten second movements until your are bored to tears or confident through 2 to 3 packs.
4. Now the fun stuff begins...Turn your model left side in as usual hold it for ten seconds then slowly move forward one foot! JUST ONE FOOT...don't cheat!...( Boredom, Discipline. You'll get there faster by going slow!). turn the model right side in and hold it ten seconds, then move forward one foot...This one foot is more important than you'll ever know..don't cheat. Same story again don't move on until your bored or at least two to three packs..
5. More Fun is on the way... Left side in...freeze...move (Two) feet forward...freeze...right side...(Two) feet forward ..more batteries..
6. Here we go... we are going to do the same thing as before, moving two foot forward, only this time your NOT going to freeze..try to make it one smooth movement...rotate slowly left side in. move slowly forward two feet and gently rotate to right side in and slowly move two feet forward and so on....what your are doing is a figure 8....Yea!
7. now, if you feel the way I did after the boredom you wont have any problem moving forward 5 feet then 8...10 and rotating smoothly...When you feel you burned enough battery packs move to a large field and slowly take it away 20 feet each way..When you go home at the end of that day...If you don't feel absolutely great....you had a mechanical failure.
8. More come...

How to learn Nose in (The Radd way) it is called "Nose In For Fun"

If you want to still have a blast with your pic...put some traing gear back on....and redo the box method....dont really concentrate on the thought that you are flying nose in...just do it for fun....

If you do it for fun....it's really a kick...then all the sudden you realize you can hover nose in...

I'll be writing some lessons on this...But I've found that If you can hover "tail in" until your bored... you'll have alot of fun if you discipline yourself to stay in the box...But... strangely the key is to do it having fun in mind....As I said...If you can already fly tail and side in do the "nosebox" strictly for fun....It takes all the stress off...and becomes exciting and a blast....I found myself laughing at the little beast...

the real challenge is not flying...It's trying to keep it in the box....( I've already dumped it into a plant once..and I can fly nose in...) once your thrill is gone and you have it down pat...take it up...But wait until the fun is over...or...you'll be buying some parts....to celebrate with..

Make sure you stop and fly tail in every now and then or you will surely crash flying tail in again...

Learning the Nose In Landing

Original post

Ok...Here's your Nose in wall test....Your only a thumb away...from nose in...I'm sure you've jammed the rudder over and done a pirouette?....That's all it is...one jab of the thumb...but it's hard to adsorb thinking that...One lousy push on the rudder and the heli spins....Want to nose in? Well, heres what you do...Take it up as high as you can and piro it a couple times...When you nerves settle a little...pirouette it again but stop nose in ( just for the slightest fraction of a second)...and jam the rudder again. (Not) to tail in but do another piro..When you've got your wits again stop it tail in and land...the key to remember is that it's only going to be nose in for a heartbeat...know that before you lift off...no one will even know what your up to...soon it all starts to look much different to you....It's only a wall ......that's all...

The paralyzing thought is that if your helicopter is pointing towards you the controls are backwards...WhooooHa ...scarey!!!....But, How fast can you move your thumb and hit the rudder? Pretty darn fast...And you know that the heli will spin right?...So what's the big deal??....

Again...If you helicopter is trimmed and balanced and you can take your fingers off the controls for a second and it doesn't nose dive and splash into the deck before you can get your fingers back on the controls, then what's it gonna do if you pirouette it nose in and pause for a second?...It's gonna hold for a moment right? If you helicopter wont hover hands off for a fraction of a second ...well, you better take it back to the workbench anyway...

I know what you're thinking! "Yeah, well, spinning and stopping is not the same as flying and hovering (nose in). Is it?" And the answer is yes and no, because you are still flying aren't you?...But..What your doing here is breaking down that monster, that black ghost..the cold, old, fear wall.. IF you do this often, what's going to happen? Again, as I have said a million times you'll calm down and get bored. And if your bored you can't be afraid..And if your not afraid your generally in control..And if your in control you can usually think straight...( I mean backwards)( I mean straight forward)...( Oh, You know what I mean?)

OK.ok...the sad news now...I probably wouldn't suggest this to anyone who hasn't wore the joy sticks out on a simulator....But even if you don't have a sim....You gotta start some where??
RaddnRotate...
"click"....FLame on!..."click"

Flying on Thin Ice

Ok ....So picture this....you're about to die...and up till now life was a big funny joke..Suddenly it's all become a gray dark cloudy dank cold day...The sunshine has faded into the haze of a dead fog...and...you ain't laughing anymore..

What in the world is Radd on to about now?.....He's a psycho I tell ya!....And just what does this have to do with Helicopters?

Wait!....Just wait...I am not done yet!....

Ok...now...back to my story...

It all started when I was visiting some friends up north by the lake..(Romeo)...The lake was frozen and all the locals were out on the ice skating around a big circle like Bing Crosby in a White Christmas movie..And being the kind of funster that I fancy myself, I take off and make a quick trip to the nearest Wal-Mart for furry mittens, stocking hat with a fuzz ball dangling, Big thick wool socks with deer designs sewn in the top..And ofcourse the cheapest most expensive masculine looking pair of ice skates I could find...

Now it's back the lake with my snuggly wintery garb..

Sitting around the frozen shoreline by the communal camp fire, lacing up my wal-mart specials...I must have appeared more of a newbie than I was trying to let on.. because more than one person came by to give me advise and warnings about the hazards of a southern boy in a northern winter wonderland....Mainly how to keep from killing myself...Or being murdered by sweet little ole Mother Nature..

But what the heck?....It looked like fun ....It looked easy...And I really didn't hear a thing that was said..

Never having skated before..I'm not sure if I look more like Curly, Moe or Larry from the three stooges doing the backward windmill dance trying to keep my balance....Wubb wubb wubb.....Rule number one ...LET SOMEONE HELP YOU...Let someone hold your hand and hold you up until you've got your feet under you...

Rule number two LET SOMEONE HELP YOU..and keep you in the safe zone...
Rule number three....LET SOMEONE HELP YOU after you've fallen down....

Ok..Ok... Ok....so here I am now, drifting out of the safe circle ..away from where all the happy slappy graceful gliders and sliders are...I've got my feet locked in the forward position and I'm scooting like a stick man ..My knees feel like metal hinges on the tin man...But....hey...It's all cool...I can handle it....no problem...further and further I drift away from the funsters back by the shore...

Suddenly a quizzical look comes on my face as I realize I don't know how to turn this machine around?...If I make the slightest effort to correct anything or any bodily function I'm going to fall on my back...break both elbows and shatter the back of my skull like the shell of a soft boiled egg as it bounces off the ice...And humiliate myself...So I don't move....Not only do I not move...I'm too concerned with my own safety to even scream ....Don't do anything I hear the fool inside my head say...The opposite small tiny voice ( that I never listen to) is begging me just to lower myself to my butt and whimper a quiet uncle, raise the white flag.. (furry mittens) and admit that I'm not the sporty man I thought I was and call out for help...But no!...I just keep my frozen knees locked on the skates skimming across the frozen ice..

Just about the time I begin to relax enough to try an evasive movement...I hear the fateful sound of death....Crack...Cra....CRACK....."OH MY GOOD LORD...HAVE MERCY!!!"....I can't turn around!....I don't dare do anything radical like slamming myself quickly to all fours and scrounging like a bug for anything to grab onto...But I've got to do something...ANYTHING!..I'm going to die..I'm going to fall through the ice and let the current drag me along back down south to the ocean while I swim along underneath sucking for air bubbles???? CRACK!!...another CRACKkkkk..

Alright Skyboys....Back to reality......Lets talk wisdom and common sense...Huh?...Wha?.....Yep!...time to get the point across..

See I could have said a few simple sentences that you would have forgotten ...Or..I can try to get the point to sink in...

HELICOPTERS:::

You've learned how to hover...You've learned how to do mild forward flight and gentle figure eight's...If..and I say If everything stays in perfect harmony, you and your bird will be fine.. land in one piece and go back into the trunk of the car and back on the shelf at home...Perfectly unscratched for you to point at and tell your friends .."Yeah..I can fly that!"...nothin to it!.

But what happens if harmony turns to a puddle of crap?...what happens if your motor dies?...what happens if a gust of wind hits your worthless gyro and it turns nose in?....what happens if you loose a tail feather and your chopper transforms into a bay blade? Spinning so fast policemen and city buses stop to watch whats going to happen next?

What are the chances of the planets remaining lined up in perfect order for the lifetime of your whirlybird?....Nada!...that's what!...Nada...Never gonna happen....something is going to go south..and you better be ready when it does!

And how are you gonna do that?..How are you going to be ready?....Believe it or not...Two simple things.....Two simple things we all will learn the easy way or the heart break-in way......

Practice Autorotations... and Nose in...And just as soon as you possibly can after mastering hovering...and light FF..Not only will this get your hinny out of trouble or aleast many troubles...It will revamp your outlook on helicopters, increase your confidence and get you years ahead of the weekend hover dudes at the field...

Ofcourse you're thinking to yourself..."well, that's easier said than done?".....Nose IN?.....Auto's??...

Surprise!....It may be easier done than talked about....

The experts tell us that auto's can be learned easily by hovering your heli in as little as two feet off the deck and hitting the throttle hold switch and simply recovering and as normal...Then as you feel comfortable raise your bird a few feet at a time ..until you can drop it out of the sky from a little black speck...This also gets rid of the heebie geebies of flipping switches while flying..

Practicing Nose In is actually easier than Autorotations....Buahhh?....Liar?.....Big Jokester?......Not really...It's not only very easy but very fun....and very safe.....PUT THE STICKS BACK ON AND PUT IT BACK IN THE BOX ON THE GROUND...Go back through the lessons one by one..skid that momma around on the deck for a day or two and you'll be more than ready to nose in...(If you can tail in hover fairly easy)..(disclaimer, disclaimer)

If you can discipline yourself to stay on the floor and slide it around until you are comfortable YOU WILL FLY NOSE IN....and ...If and when you get into trouble you will be able to fly out of it!....

So your out on the ice...and you hear the crack of death...what do you do?.....easy!!....you have two choices...Auto in....(stop skating or flying immediately)...or....just turn nose in and skate back to the shore and those beautiful snow bunnies that have been flirting with you are still waiting with hot chocolate...

Radd?
What did I do while stuck out on the thin ice as it cracked all around me?...What did I do that saved my life....er,...uh.....Nothing!...I just made it up...Cheeesee...What did you expect?......Radd just telling you to learn nose in and auto's without being dramatic??....come on..you know me better than that!!....

Now?....what are you going to do?.....Are you the city slicker dude, retard moron?...you just going to skate out to the deep end of the lake only to suffer a mechanical failure and wait for the CRACK of the thin ice...Then do the Curly Joe and Moe backpedal.???

Learning to get control using Rock and Roll

or how to Rock and Roll

Here's some Rock n Roll instruction vids...

These weren't made to show off of flash for you but to show you how I work into the RnR process..The orientations start out small and get larger in proportion to a drop in blood pressure..The fear level drops but the adrenaline meter bounces into the red..As the dead batteries increase so does the angle of attack..

Also...It's very worth noting how low the phone wires are over head and how many they're are...this creates a very low ceiling...Almost everything you'll see both day and night must remain around 6 feet off the deck and no more than 8 feet high..What you cant see is a loose phone wire dangling smack dab in the middle of the street and hanging down...The entire street area in no larger than 30 feet around... of which I use no more than 20 feet in diameter..This leaves me a flying field of no more than 20 feet by 10 foot high...so concentration must remain extremely focused..I consider this a good thing NOT BAD...When I move to the field it's like someone knocked down all the walls...

RnR1 contains...
(1)Hard roll or aileron movements with quick recovery..This looks more like a glitch than something intentional and is hardly noticeable.
(2) Then small and smooth side to side rocking without stopping to hover.
(3)Medium sideways slides around 8 feet to hard recovery.
(4)Larger slides...Harder recoveries
(5)Rocking Nose Up Both right and left orientations
(6)Backward Nose Up slides from hover
These stick movements not only instill confidence and knowledge of the abilities of your flying machine but they create a freedom in larger flying fields that result in very smooth movements..

Video 1

RnR2...
(1)Twenty foot slides 10 to 15ft out away from me.
(2) Larger nose ups and slides
(3) 20ft circuits

Video 2

RnR3...Looks like a copy of RnR2?????? should be an example of very small circuits??? guess I need to talk to the producer?

Video 3

Night Flying is basically RnR in freestyle...after your in the groove and relaxed just let down a little and let it flow...

What you'll see in this clip is flying under one street light and remaining in a space no larger than a 20ft in a lighted area (and staying around six feet off the deck).. ( no higher than 8ft)...

Although this might not seem that tough look close and you'll see the blades in some of the oval circuits at maxium angle within inches of the asphalt...the ovals are slow and smooth..
(2) Slow Pirouettes...tuff in the dark close in!!..
(3) ten foot figure 8's...(Yeah Baby)
(4) nose ups with the tail in some cases 6 inches off the deck and moving backwards...

Night flying video

Disclaimer....the crappy quality is due to using my own video camera and my limited camera skills.....Ya lousey Bums!!

Also this is NOT the quality of my flight lesson videos which was shot by a legit Video Company....( still in mix at the present.)

I hope this may cause a little more interest in the RnR process...I just can't say enough how valuable they are in taking you to new levels of flying and confidence...Also I hope you got something out of this because I had better things to do on my birthday than type!.....
God Bless, Radd

Learning to Fly the Piccolo - page moved!

This page was moved to the Piccolo section. You can find it by clicking here

What people say about the flight school?

Gregg A.K.A "Fig8" on Rock N Roll Joe Greer nyan Ken Michael Clarke Vince

Gregg A.K.A "Fig8" on Rock N Roll Radd. This I swear works, and it works damn good. This is for people beginning to get into FF, and can already hover out packs tail in. Here is what ya do, you need to get serious and find the time each night in your driveway, with "training gear" on.. practice doing small slow figure 8's "in all directions" and SLOW piro's "in all directions", the slow piro's are very difficult to do at first but keep at it, at only a foot off the ground no more that way you can drop it quickly when you get disorientated. After you can get the slow piro's down, start practicing on in-flight corrections during the piro. After a while you will find yourself doing nonstop slow piro's as long as you want. Do this each night 1-2 packs for a few weeks, every chance you get do it, early in the mornings before work or late right before dark. I swear by this, after doing this for 3 weeks I am so much more confident in flying. it took me to fast FF from un-easy slow FF in 3 weeks, and worked out my fear of piro's and turning problems I had. If ya can use it feel free. but keep my name out of it please, i'm not much for fame. This is what i used months ago and it helped me out by leaps and bounds. Thanks Radd Gregg A.K.A "Fig8"

Joe Greer Radd: I read your lessons & made myself a copy. Thank you for taking the time to help an old man understand a few things. I expect to get my HELI in a week or two. Injoyed reading your lesson; THANKS. By the way i'm 61 years old.(What ever that means.) THANKS. Joe

nyan Roger that drill master SIR!!!!!!!! you can't hear me? DRILL MASTER SIR!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanx!! I'm anewby about to start a cp hornet! I ain't cash loaded, u may hav saved my money! I'll send ya my hornet pic for token!

Ken excellent.........though im still whining (sir)

Michael Clarke I can only say one thing and that is thanks - I have been too scared to even fly my heli after first take off and subsequent landing gear destruction. Your flight lessons are invaluable and I appreciate the effort you have put into them.

Vince When I was 12, I taught myself to fly a foam Cox EZ-Bee2. At 13 I learned what 'flairing to land' was at an airfield, with a Goldberg Eaglet 50. At 15, I had a Kyosho Concept 30. I was terrified of that thing, and thusly I flew it at least twice a week for two years without even a a boom strike. Quit flying for six years, and now, at 26, after the wife, kid, dog, lawn mower etc... I have a Dragonfly, and I didn't want to go through all the hair raising antics with 26 year old reflexes, and indoors. I have to admit, I had it floating around for a few days, but that was before I came across this training guide. I am on battery four now, and although it is slow, I think I can see where it will help me out. If you could just arrange for this guide to be provided with every helicopter sold in the United States, I would really appreciate it. I guess what I'm trying to say is thanks. Take care and have fun. Vince

Tail rotor maintenance

Frequently people report tail blade bearings giving up on the ECO. The result can be dramatic. When you loose the tail, the only way to get the helicopter down safely is to cut the throttle and try to autorotate. Not an easy maneuvre when you are a novice or very close to the ground.

Here's a picture of what it looks like when a bearing gives up

So, what can be done about this?
The best method is to add thrust bearings in the tail as the reason why the radial bearings give up as that the axial forces are higher than what they are designed for. Boca bearings sells a 2x6x3 thust bearing that's perfect for the task. Their product number is F2-6-43. It's the top one on this page. You will need a 12mm M2 bolt to mount the tail tail blade holders. Do not use aluminium screws in the tail. Use steel ones and if possible stainless or hardened steel.

Slide the thust bearing on the screw, then the radial bearing and finally the tail blade grip. Put some thread lock on the screw and have it bottom out on the tail shaft.